When the Past Comes Knocking
by Eiress Goddess of Inspiration
Summary: Nerissa Caine is living a new life away from her former world of assassins with her daughter and father, Horatio Caine. She's living life happily but soon the past comes knocking.
1. Chapter 1

When the Past Comes Knocking

Nerissa Anne Caine is a CSI on Horatio's team at the Miami-Dade Crime Lab and just so happens to be his daughter. To the average person, she seems like every other person, but Nerissa has a secret. She's a retired assassin, she'd been taken from Horatio as an infant and raised to be a weapon by a man known only as Xavier. For almost 18 years she was known to the intelligence community as the Black Hand. Three years ago she left that all behind after she found Horatio and for a year she lived happily with her boyfriend Tyler, who had also been an assassin trained by Xavier, but one day Xavier kidnapped her. For four excruciatingly long hours, Xavier held her in an abandoned warehouse, torturing her as punishment for leaving. Eventually, Horatio, the team, and Tyler tracked her to the warehouse but Xavier didn't give up easily. During the ensuing shootout, Nerissa sustained a gunshot to the calf, Xavier killed Tyler and Horatio killed Xavier with a shot to the head. A few weeks later, Nerissa found out that she was pregnant with Tyler's child. By some miracle, the baby had survived and Nerissa had something she could smile about again. Nine months later Nerissa and the team welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world, Anastasia Renee Caine. For three years has Nerissa lived happily with her family but on the day of Ana's 3rd birthday, her world is about to be turned upside down.

* * *

Nerissa had been preparing the house for Ana's party with the team when she heard a knock on the door, upon answering she was shocked to see it was Tobias Fornell, the FBI agent she'd worked with to bring down the assassin ring she had grown up in, "Tobias, what are you doing here?"

A/N: _For my new readers, I'd like to say welcome to When the Past Comes Knocking. For returning views I want you to know that if you're re-reading this, there will be some slight differences. I have made revisions to this story and combined some chapters that I feel will make is a bit more enjoyable to read and will fit where I want it to go in the long run with the sequels. Some changes you might not even realize are there. I hope you enjoy and please leave a review! ~E_


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm sorry to have to ask this on your daughter's birthday, but the FBI and CIA need your expertise," he explained and Nerissa could tell by the look on his face that it was going to be a bad day.

"You don't need me to solve a murder, do you?" Nerissa asked getting a bad gut feeling.

"I'm afraid not," he said remorsefully.

"I can't help, I won't help," she told him firmly, "I told you when I came to you to help me end Xavier that after he was gone I wanted nothing else to do with that world! Especially since I have to raise Anastasia all by myself! It's not happening, Fornell!"

"Nerissa, please, it's a matter of national security and you're the only one I trust to go through with this plan," he begged, "Tony Stark's life is in grave danger and I need to you help us get enough evidence to bring down Obadiah Stane."

"Tobias I already told you I can't help…" she froze, "Did you say Tony Stark?!"

"It has come to our attention that an individual within Stark Industries has put out a contract for the assassination of Tony Stark for the price of $2.5 million. We suspect that it was Obadiah Stane that put up the contract, but we need proof. You are the only person that I trust to infiltrate Stark Industries, fool Stane into revealing his part in it, and convince him your identity must be kept secret for the plan to work. The FBI and CIA are willing to offer you $4,000,000 to take this assignment and get the evidence on Stane."

Nerissa had to sit down and take a few deep breaths to take in the information she had just been given and the pay day it would bring if she took this one job. Weighing the pros and cons of having to be away from her family and Ana, she asked Tobias, "How long do you expect this to take? I can't be away from Ana for months on end! She's only a little kid, she needs me."

"I figured you'd say that. The directors of the CIA and FBI have both agreed to give you four months to do the job and after that, you are free to go home, take the pay, and have someone else take your place as the Black Hand for the remainder of the mission." Fornell explained, "Please Nerissa, we need you to do this or the government could lose our number one weapons manufacturer."

Considering how much that money could help to give Ana a comfortable life and excellent education she gave Fornell her answer, "Fine, but only four months. Not a day longer and then I'm coming straight home no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Got it, Toby?"

Fornell cringed at the nickname replied, "Got it, thank you so much, Nerissa. I'll go call my superiors and let them know. I'll be in touch with the specifics. Arrange to leave by the end of the week," and then he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Two hours later Nerissa had finished setting up for Ana's birthday and her dad, Horatio, was on his way with Ana and the rest of the team. Since Fornell had left, she had been fretting about how she was going to tell her dad and the team that she would be leaving for four months to do the very thing that she'd sworn to never do again. As she heard the distinct sound of car doors shutting she decided that she would wait until after the festivities were over and Ana was sound asleep in bed. For now, she would have fun and enjoy celebrating her little girl's birthday.

"Hey, sweetheart," Horatio greeted, carrying in his giggling granddaughter.

"Hey, Dad," Nerissa smiled, taking Ana from her father, "How's my little bird?" Nerissa asked laughing as she swung Ana around in a circle, "Are you ready for your birthday party?"

"Yes, Mommy," Ana giggled with a slight lisp, as she squealed in delight at her mother's antics.

"Hey guys," Nerissa said turning to greet the rest of the team that had filtered in.

"Hey, Rissa," Everyone greeted at once.

"Dinner is ready and waiting in the kitchen and there's a stack of plates, cups, and silverware on the table already, go help yourselves," Nerissa said, "We'll have dinner and have cake and ice cream for dessert."

"What we havin, Mommy?" Ana asked bouncing up and down, her pigtails swinging.

"Well, my little bird," Nerissa answered, "I made you your favorite, mac 'n' cheese and hot dogs," seeing the looks on the teams face she smiled and said, "For the big kids, however, I made up some brats and burgers," Nerissa smirked as she saw the looks of relief of some of the male team members, "Alright guys, let's eat!"

A few short hours later after dinner was eaten, the cake was devoured, and presents had been ripped open by an overzealous three-year-old, the team gathered in the living room to talk after Ana had been put to bed. This was the moment that Nerissa had been dreading for hours and now she had to tell everyone, "Guys," she said getting everyone's attention, "I have some rather important news I have to share with everyone.

"What is it?" asked Horatio concern creasing his brow.

"Well, um," she stammered, "I'm sure you all remember Agent Fornell from the FBI? We worked with him to bring down Xavier and the rest of the ring," seeing the nods she continued, "Well, he paid me a visit today and uh he offered me a, uh…. job….."

"Exactly what type of job did he offer you?" Horatio asked, clearly worried because he saw how uncomfortable his daughter looked trying to tell the team her news.

"He, uh, offered me a contract, it's a four-month undercover mission out in California…." stammered Nerissa.

"WHAT?!" the entire team roared but they immediately quieted remembering Ana sleeping soundly in the next room.

"You told him no, right?" Calleigh asked, worried about the possibility of her best friend relapsing back into her old life.

Nerissa started to answer but before she could Ryan interrupted, "You said yes, didn't you?!" he accused, "She wouldn't be acting so nervous if she'd said no!" he said turning to the rest of the team.

"He's right," she sighed, "I said yes," she paused as shock passed among her little family, "but only because of how much money is involved. It's enough to be able to give Ana a good education and for us to live comfortably for the rest of our lives. I won't apologize for thinking about my daughter's future!" she said with a finality that silenced all other protests because they could sense her determination. They all knew that they would have to trust her judgment whether they liked it or not, because who in their right mind would argue with a former assassin.

"So can you tell us specifics of this "job" or is it only need to know?" Ryan asked, he had calmed down but was still completely against the job.

"I'm sorry guys but this is a highly classified mission and I've probably told you too much already," Nerissa said as she glanced warily around the room at the team, "but I do know that I have to arrange to be gone by the end of the week. Which means taking off work and paying bills for the next few months and getting together my old contract kit."

"It's that serious that you have to get _that_ out?" Horatio asked, extremely worried for his daughter.

"I just don't know, Dad," she replied very distantly, "I won't know any kind of specific information until Fornell gives me the details of the mission, but it couldn't hurt to have it."

"Rissa, are you going to be able to communicate with us or are you going to have to go dark?" Calleigh asked. She had become a little upset that Nerissa would do this to the family after all they had gone through to get where they are now.

"I hate to ask good company to leave but I really need some alone time right now," Nerissa ignored Calleigh's question. Her evasion only made the team even more concerned because she hadn't intentionally evaded an important question since she first joined the team after everything went down with Xavier. The team was reluctant to leave because of the regression they all could see in their friend. Nerissa, in anticipation of her departure, had subconsciously begun to withdraw from her friends and that only made the team more reluctant to let her go on this mission.

"Alright guys, let's get out of here and let Riss have some time to think before she has to leave," Horatio said as he ushered the team out the door, "Will you be at work tomorrow?" Nerissa just shook her head and sat down on her couch looking a little withdrawn. Seeing the look on his daughter's face he made sure the rest of his team safely made it to their cars then turned back to his daughter, "Riss, is there something you want to talk about?"

"No, Dad. What gives you that idea?" she replied trying to put a smile on her face.

"Well, it might have something to do with the fact that you ignored Calleigh's questions, shutout Ryan, and kicked the team out of the house," he said, "But that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

"I figured that was why you stayed," Riss smiled weakly at her father.

"Yeah, I'm worried that this mission may be a little much for you," he said, "Four months? Really Riss? What were you thinking when you accepted this? Were you even thinking? You have a daughter now."

"I know, Dad! She is the reason that I accepted it! They're going to pay me $4,000,000! With that much money, Ana can go to the best schools and I can afford to give her the life that was taken from me the day Xavier took me from you! Don't you think that four months of absence from her life is a small price to pay for a chance to give her a safe and comfortable life!?" she snapped, "Yes, it could be dangerous. Yes, I will miss some important milestones in Ana's life. Yes, I will be risking a lot, but I think that the benefits greatly outweigh the risks."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Riss," H started, "Please, just come back to me. Don't revert back to your old ways, I don't know if I could handle losing you a second time."

"I promise I will come back. You just have to trust me and make sure Ana is safe while I'm gone so that I can focus on the task at hand and come back quicker," she began to cry, "Promise me!"

"Oh Riss," he said drawing his only daughter into a hug, "Don't you know by now that I would never let anything happen you or Anastasia?" They sat there for a while and eventually Nerissa fell asleep in her father's embrace and he gently laid her down and then quietly made his exit.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Nerissa woke up with a sense of calm after the reassurances from her dad, but she was a bit uneasy about the newest task that had come about, she had to tell Ana she was leaving for four months. Even though her daughter was only three she was still old enough to notice her mother's absence, to a three-year-old four months, may as well be an eternity. Was this going to affect her development? Nerissa didn't have long to contemplate her thoughts because she heard her daughter begin to stir in the next room and she went in to say good morning to her little girl.

"Good morning my little bird," whispered Nerissa to her daughter, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yea," Ana said rubbing the sleep from her bright green eyes, "What's for breakfast?"

"Well, my little bird, we have two choices," said Nerissa, stroking her little girl's bright red hair that matched hers and Horatio's, "We have fruit loops or I can whip up some mouse-eared pancakes with bananas. What do you think?"

"I wan' pancakes," she said a slight lisp on her Ss, "but can we have them with booberries? Pwease Mommy, Pwease!"

"Well okay, but only because you asked nicely," Nerissa replied, "but after we have to talk about something very important."

"What is it, Mommy?" asked Ana curiously.

"We'll talk about it after breakfast but right now let's go whip up those pancakes!" said Nerissa as she picked up her daughter and carried her towards the kitchen, all the while initiating a tickle fight.

* * *

After the mess that was breakfast was eaten and cleaned up and dishes were done Nerissa and Ana headed out back to play on the swings for a little while and as the fun was winding down Nerissa braced herself to tell Ana about what was soon to come.

"Hey, Little Bird, can I talk to you about something?"

"Yea Mommy," Ana smiled.

"Um, well do you remember when Uncle Eric went on a super secret job for Grampa and he was gone for a few weeks?" said Nerissa as gently as she could.

"An' he wasn't able to see or talk to us," replied Ana who was still blissfully unaware of what was coming.

"Exactly. Well, um," Nerissa stammered, "I kind of have to go on a super secret mission like Uncle Eric's and I'm going to be gone for a bit longer than he was." Nerissa braced herself as she finished her last word for the tears that were possibly about to come.

"Oh," whispered Ana, "We won't be able to thee each other or talk?"

"No, _mia bella_ ," Nerissa murmured, "but I promise I will come back and then I'm never going to leave you again. I swear." Then she pulled her little girl to her side and kissed the top of her head.

"Pinky pwomise?" whimpered Ana as the tears began to flow and she held up her little finger.

"Pinky promise," Nerissa whispered to her little girl as she wrapped her pinky around her daughter's, then pulled her in for a hug.

After their _eventful_ morning, the mother and daughter went out to lunch at their favorite restaurant and then went to park to enjoy a few carefree moments of the sunshine and mother-daughter bonding. Before long the pair were headed to the MDPD lab to meet Horatio for their weekly dinner and movie night, tonight would be pizza rolls and Horton Hears a Who. It was bittersweet that this would be a chance for family bonding but it would be the last for a few months.

"Hey, Dad," Nerissa said greeting her dad, "How was work today? Did I miss anything exciting and dangerous?"

"Hey, Riss," said Horatio, "Nothing exciting today but I did file your temporary leave of absence today."

"Oh," said Nerissa her smile fading at the reminder of the separation that was to come in a few days, "Did anyone cause any problems?"

"They tried to," explained Horatio, "but once they saw the order from the FBI, that was signed by not only the Director of the FBI but also the Director of the CIA, they had a hard time arguing about your extremely short notice and the length of time you'll be gone."

"Well at least Fornell came through on that," said Nerissa trying to find the bright side of this depressing situation.

"Yeah," Horatio started and looked at his daughter, "Before we go Calleigh told me she wanted to you meet her in the Ballistics lab. She said she has something she wants to ask you."

Nerissa began to be a little worried, "Did she say what it was about"

"No, she just said it was important," replied Horatio who clearly knew more than he was letting on and Nerissa, being a highly trained former assassin, could tell he knew what Calleigh wanted.

"Alright, you take Ana and go ahead. I'll meet you back at my place," she said

"Okay. Come on, Princess. Let's go get ready for dinner," said Horatio smiling and picking up his granddaughter and carrying her towards the Hummer. As Nerissa watched the two most important people in her life walk away she began to wonder how things could have been different if Xavier hadn't raised her to be a killer.

* * *

As Nerissa was walking to the Ballistics lab she began running through all the possible questions that Calleigh could ask her ranging from if she really had to take this job to if she really couldn't find a way to talk to them while she's away. Finally, she reached the entrance to Ballistics and she took a moment to mentally prepare herself for the southern storm that is Calleigh Duquesne.

"Hey Cal," said Nerissa as she stepped into the lab, "Dad said you wanted to talk to me."

"Yeah, I do," said Calleigh smiling as she looked up from the reports she was writing up, "I was wondering if we could have one last team dinner before you left?"

Nerissa was slightly taken aback at the simplicity of the question. The whole way up here she had been preparing herself for a maelstrom of questions her best friend was likely to throw at her and she hadn't even considered this one. "Um, well," she stammered, "I don't know. I'm going to be really busy packing and getting all kinds of things in line for my absence and I just don't think I'll have time to cook a big dinner and all that jazz."

"That's no problem," said Calleigh who wasn't about to let her get off that easy, "We can have it at my place. I'll cook up and all you have to do is show up."

"Cal, I'm really not going to have the time," said Nerissa who was really trying to get out of anything that would make the separation even harder.

Calleigh who was tired of excuses exploded, "Nerissa Anne Caine! You are going to be at my house by seven o'clock Thursday night! We are having a team dinner and you won't miss it! You're leaving for four months and we need this one last dinner! Got it?"

Nerissa who was taken back by this sudden explosion just stood there dumbstruck for a second then quickly agreed because she could see that she was definitely not getting out of this.

"Good," said Calleigh whose voice was now back to its normal volume and tone, "I'll see you then."

Nerissa who was still shocked at Calleigh's outburst simply turned and walked out of the lab and headed home to meet her dad.


	5. Chapter 5

Nerissa arrived home to find that her dad and Ana had already started cooking dinner, mac 'n' cheese and pizza rolls, and was immediately sent to her room with strict orders to take a bath and have a little time to relax. So, she did as she was told and sat in a warm bath contemplating what the next few months would bring. She figured that she would get a week in California to herself to begin preparing and coming up with a plan of action, she was already set up to have an interview for a secretary's position with Stark himself in exactly two weeks. Her mission parameters were very vague, and for that Nerissa was happy because that gave her enough room to improvise and use whatever skills she needed to get the job done. Basically, all she had to do was get enough evidence to convict Stane, or whoever put the hit out, and make sure that Tony stays safe, simple enough. Her thoughts then drifted to how Ana would really handle her mom's long absence and how her dad would handle any type of reaction Ana might have. Soon, a soft knock came at the bathroom door that could only belong to her little girl.

"Who is it?" Nerissa called through the door already draining the tub and beginning to towel off.

"It's me, Mommy!" Ana yelled, "Grampa says it's time to eat!"

"Okay, Little Bird," Nerissa replied, "I'll be out in a minute"

"Kay," Ana yelled back and Nerissa could hear her daughter's soft footsteps receding down the hall.

* * *

Dinner had gone really well, they filled the silence with light and humorous conversation, telling stories, and generally avoided talking about what the end of the week would mean. After dinner, dishes were cleaned up and leftover mac 'n' cheese put in the fridge the little family moved to the living room and started their movie, curled up on the couch, Ana sandwiched herself between her mom and grandpa, and they let the outside world melt away for a few hours. After the movie was over, which Anastasia fell asleep halfway through, Horatio carried Ana to her room and tucked her in. Then, he rejoined Nerissa in the living room only to find her asleep as well, so he tucked a pillow under her head and draped a blanket over her. Horatio stood there watching his daughter sleep peacefully for a while wondering how he had gotten so lucky to find his only child alive after so many years (A/N: _Horatio hasn't found out about Kyle yet)_ , and how amazing it was having her and Anastasia in his life, his only regret was losing her in the first place. Even after all these years he still felt as though it was his fault that she was taken in the first place. If only he had stayed home that night instead of going out on a call that wasn't even his to answer, but he had gone on it anyway because he and Allie, his first wife and Nerissa's mother, had been fighting. A few hours later Horatio got the call no parent should ever have to get…

 _Flashback__

"Horatio!" yelled Lieutenant Collins, Horatio's boss in New York at the time.

"Yeah, Boss?" asked Horatio, unaware of the terrible news he was about to get.

"There's been a call out for MacDonald's team," Collins told him gravely, "home invasion and child abduction, I'm sorry Horatio but the address…. it's yours." Hearing the news Horatio felt like he'd been punched in the gut but then he began running towards his squad car, not hearing his boss calling his name, nor did he register the looks he was getting from the others at the scene, all he cared about was getting home to his wife.

Ten excruciatingly long minutes later Horatio was sprinting into his house only pausing to yell at the uniform on the street that, "This is my house goddammit!" and running into his living room to see his wife sitting on the couch crying.  
"Allie? Allie, what happened, where's Nerissa? Where's our daughter?!" questioned Horatio his voice rising with each question.

"Oh, Horatio! She's gone! A man just came in here waving a gun around screaming at me to get down and... and he hit me, I must have passed out… and when I woke up I found Nerissa's crib empty! He took her! He took our little girl!" Allie sobbed, falling into her husband's arms. Horatio couldn't believe what he was hearing, how could she be gone? He had just seen her three hours ago, how could something like this happen to him? Why?! Why his family!? Nerissa was only five months old, what could anyone want with an innocent, five-month-old little girl, his little girl. After numbly sitting on his couch consoling his distraught wife for hours answering the standard investigation questions; who would want to hurt him or his wife, could he think of anyone in specific who would have a grudge against him, any enemies or arrestees stand out as a potential suspect. After answering all of those questions he and his wife were finally left alone with their grief after receiving promises from the investigators to bring his little girl home as fast as they could. Horatio knew deep down that they would probably never find his little girl alive again. He knew that the chances were slim to none, but the day he truly gave up hope of ever seeing his little girl again was the day of her first birthday, seven months after that horrible night.

 _End Flashback_ _

Now standing here, twenty-one years later, looking at his daughter sleeping peacefully he wished that he'd never given up hope and had looked harder and longer for her. He wished he'd never given up on his little girl, maybe if he hadn't she never would have been put through the living hell that had been her childhood. Her childhood could have broken her but it didn't, she was a fighter, she was his daughter and he swore, when he found her four years ago, that he was never going to lose her again and now he was afraid that he might again.

A/N: I wanted _to clarify that this story, and all other one-shots and stories that come with it, is kind of AU and won't really follow the same timeline that the show did. Thanks for your support, please review, and keep being awesome! ~E_


	6. Chapter 6

Thursday night's team dinner had shown up much faster than Nerissa would have liked but things you don't want to come seem to come faster than things you do want to happen. Now, as she drove to Calleigh's, with Ana in the backseat happily singing to the radio, she was deep in thought. She was thinking about how much different leaving on this mission was going to be from the ones she'd been on before. This time she had a family that would miss her if she didn't come back and the young CSI didn't know how to feel about this since she'd been trained from the cradle to never become attached to anything or anyone. Now she had to deal with emotions she'd never felt before, emotions she'd been trained to avoid. Nerissa felt very much like running far, far away from everything but she knew that it wasn't an option with Anastasia around because she loved her daughter more than anything. Nerissa had tried very hard to run from her past but now the past had come knocking and she didn't know how to deal with it, but for now she just had to get through this team dinner and that started with knocking on the door she was now standing in front of.

"Hey, Riss! I'm so glad you made it," greeted Calleigh as she opened the door, "Everyone else is already in the kitchen. We were just waiting for you and Anastasia to get here."

"I'm not late am I?" asked Nerissa, "I thought you said seven?"

"I did but we all got off a little bit earlier than planned. So we all came over here and got started on dinner right after work," answered Calleigh walking into the kitchen.

"Oh," said Nerissa, watching her daughter roam around the kitchen saying hello to everyone, "Hey guys."

"Hey Nerissa!" everyone greeted at once

"Hey Rissa," Horatio said walking over to give his daughter a hug.

"Hi Dad," replied Nerissa in a monotone returning her dad's hug stiffly, which didn't go unnoticed by the older man. In fact, it concerned him greatly since she seemed to be detaching herself from everyone, especially him.

"Hey Nerissa," said Ryan, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Um, sure," she replied cautiously.

"Great, um, let's go talk out here," said Ryan gesturing towards the back patio. Once outside Ryan started talking, "So Riss, I know you must be under a lot of stress right now with your mission coming in a few days but I just wanted you to know that I need you to come home from this."

"What makes you think I won't come home?" she asked confused as to where he was going with this, "It's not supposed to be a dangerous mission. I'm just doing some investigating and a bit of undercover protection."

"That's not what I meant Riss," said Ryan, "I'm confident that you will physically come home because you're the strongest person I know but I'm afraid that it won't be you that comes home. I'm afraid that you will come home like you were right after Tyler died, reserved and shut off from the outside world and everyone in it just like you're starting to do right now. I need _you_ to come home Nerissa because… because I love you."

"Ryan, I don't...uh. I just, I'm sorry," she stuttered before turning on her heel and running back into the house. Ryan was unsurprised by her reaction, but he was still a little upset because he had hoped that she would have shown some sign of reciprocating his feelings, but he should have known better considering how hard she had taken Tyler's death and how even now she still mourned him.

Despite Ryan's confession and the awkwardness that came with it, Nerissa surprised herself by enjoying the rest of the night. Dinner, thanks to the extra help from the team, was a grand affair with all the fixings- ranging from ham and meatloaf to mashed potatoes and gravy to corn and peas, even the dessert that followed was delicious. However, out of everyone present, Ana seemed to enjoy the night the most, the little girl had soaked up all the attention her "aunts and uncles" had showered her with and had absolutely pigged out on the food.

After the team moved to Calleigh's small living room Nerissa spoke up, "I'm really going to miss you guys."

"We're going to miss you too, Riss," said Calleigh glad that her friend had made that admission, it was something that she had never allowed herself to say before because even years later Xavier still had a small grip on Nerissa's actions.

"It won't be the same without you around Nerissa," Eric declared, "Now I won't have anyone to play pranks on Ryan with me."

Smiling a little she told him, "It's good to give him a break sometimes. When I come back he won't know what hit him."The whole team laughed at that but Horatio noticed that Ryan's was forced and he still hadn't made eye contact with Nerissa since they had come back inside after their talk earlier, thinking about it, he noticed that she hadn't directly spoken to Ryan since then either. Knowing something had clearly happened between the two he resolved to ask Nerissa about it later when he came over to read to Ana before bedtime.

"So Rissa, are you gonna bring us back some souvenirs from your adventure?" Tripp said jokingly, "or are you just going to bring back a nice tan.

"I doubt I'll have a tan," she laughed, "but I'll see what I can do about getting you an "I 3 Cali" shirt.

* * *

A short hour later the team was back at their own homes, Ana had fallen asleep to her grandfather's story and Horatio and Nerissa were sitting at her kitchen table drinking tea.

"So Riss," Horatio said looking at his daughter, "What was up with you and Ryan tonight?"  
"I don't know what you mean," she replied passively.

"You don't do you?" Horatio said skeptically, "So answer this why didn't you say anything to him all night?"

"There wasn't anything to say," she told him evasively.

"Or why you two couldn't look at each other all night? Did something happen when you two talked earlier?"

"No," She said in a clipped tone.

"Nerissa," Horatio said.

"It's none of your business!" she snapped, "I don't see why everyone has to be so intrusive lately! Why can't you all just leave me alone? Why does everyone have to make everything so damn complicated!"

"Nerissa, we're your family," he told her softly, "We're worried and just want to make sure you are safe."

"I can take care of myself!" she raged, "I am leaving for four months and you guys don't have to make everything so complicated!

"We're not trying to," he said trying to calm her.

"Well you are," she said coolly standing up and walking to the door, "Now I want you to leave so that I can go to bed. I need to be up early tomorrow so that I can pack."

"Do you want any help?" he asked softly.

"NO!" she spat vehemently, "I don't need anybody's help! I don't want to see the team and I don't want to see you until you come to pick up Anastasia tomorrow night!"

"Okay," he said compliantly, "Good night Riss. I love you."

After closing the door Nerissa leaned up against the door and the slid down it to the ground. Within seconds she was sobbing violently and thought to herself, "Why does this have to be so damn hard?"


	7. Chapter 7

After spending the hour crying Nerissa finally got up off the floor and began cleaning the house and when that was done she began cleaning her rather large arsenal of guns and knives, that she kept under lock and key in a safe that was kept well outside of her daughter's reach. After all of the cleaning was done it was morning and she still hadn't slept at all but it was time to get Ana ready for the day and pack for both of them.

Tiptoeing into her daughter's room she walked to the bed and gently shook her daughter's shoulder, "Ana, Ana baby it's time to get up."

" 's too earlwy mommy," the little girl whined sleepily.

"I know little bird but we have a long day ahead of us and we need to get started on our to do list," Nerissa said gently, " and if we get started now we can go have breakfast at the West Cafe." That got the three year old's attention and she immediately jumped out of bed and began jumping up and down, "I'm up Mommy! I'm up, I'm up, I'm up!" the little girl screeched.

"I see that," Nerissa chuckled, "Now let's get you dressed and then we'll get going."

"Yay!" Ana cheered and began bounding through her room picking out very bright, very mismatched, clothes for the day.

Soon the tiny family was sitting in their booth at the West Cafe examining their menus, or at least Ana was pretending that she was but she was holding her menu upside down.

Laughing a little Nerissa looked over her menu at her daughter and asked, "What are you getting my little bird?"

"Thame thing ath alwayth mommy," Ana said, "Apple french toatht, duh."

"Duh?" Nerissa asked her daughter a little shocked, "Where did you learn duh?"

"Uncle Eric taught me!" the little girl said proudly.

"Uh huh," the young mother said, making a mental note to slap Eric upside the head next time she saw him. Then, it hit her that she wouldn't be seeing him for another four months since she swore that she wouldn't see anyone but her dad before she left and her pride wouldn't allow her to go back on her word, but she didn't have time to think on it further because the waitress came back to take their orders.

"Alright ladies, what can I get for ya?" asked the waitress in a thick southern accent.

"I'll have the breakfast platter, Darla, and Ana will have," Nerissa said but her daughter cut her off.

"NO Mommy! I can order for mythelf!" the little girl yelled.

"Alright Ana," Nerissa conceded a little surprised at her daughter's outburst.

"I'll have the apple french toatht, Mith. Darla," Ana said sweetly.

"Alright ladies, I'll put that right in for ya," Darla said laughing a little a the little girl's antics.

"Thank you Darla. You're the best," Nerissa told her.

"Anything for my favorite ladies," Darla replied as she walked away.

"So, Ana do you know what today would have been?" Nerissa asked her daughter.

"Ummmm, I dunno," the little girl replied.

"Today would have been your daddy's 24th birthday," Nerissa told Ana a little sadly.

"Oh," she said a little blue.

"What's wrong my little bird?" Nerissa asked a little concerned at her daughter's sudden change in mood.  
"Nothin' itth just that I don't remember anything about my daddy," the little girl said.

"Oh, little one, has that been bothering you?" she questioned.

"A little," Ana admitted, "I see everyone at school with their daddy's but I don't even remember mine."

"Sweetheart," Nerissa said, "That should never bother you and do you want to know why?"

"Why?" Ana asked quietly.

"Because your daddy died a long time before you were born, when you were still in my belly," Nerissa told her daughter, "He died protecting you and me from a very, very bad man."

"He did?" Ana asked, her eyes shining.

"Yes, he did," Nerissa said, "Your daddy was a hero."

"He was?" the little girl asked incredulously.

"Yes he was," Nerissa told her firmly and before the conversation could go any further Darla showed back up with drink refills and their meals. So the time was then filled with the two quietly eating their meals.

* * *

After breakfast that day Ana and Nerissa returned home to begin packing what few things Ana would be taking with her to Horatio's that night, since she was only staying at his apartment for a few nights before they came back to stay at Nerissa's to make her mother's absence easier on Ana. And when that was finished Nerissa began packing her own bags that would be going with her out to California but it wasn't going to be much since the CIA was paying for an all new wardrobe to help her acclimate and blend in to her cover better but all too soon it came time to pack the one thing she dreaded, her contract kit. Nerissa's work kit consisted of several small handguns, a sniper rifle- that folded down to fit in the suitcase that doubled as her kit, fiberwire, latex and leather gloves, ammunition, her throwing knives and daggers, flash- bang grenades, frag grenades, incendiaries, and her signature dual wielding vibranium daggers but packing those things would have to wait until Anastasia was taking her afternoon nap. Nerissa didn't want her little girl to be exposed to her mother's dark past, so while Ana was playing with her dolls in the next room Nerissa decided to call an old friend who she hadn't spoken to in a long time.

"Hello," answered a voice on the other end of the phone.

"Um, hello my name is Nadia Davies and I was calling to see if I could speak with Natalia?" Nerissa replied speaking in a code that only her old friend would understand.

"Nadia? Riss you really had to dig deep into your memory bank to find that one, didn't you?" replied the old friend.

"It wasn't that long ago Nathalie and you know it," Nerissa teased.

"Really? It wasn't that long ago? We were 13 and it was my first run in with you, I'd say that count that as practically ancient considering our ages now," Nathalie said, "So, what's up you never call under the guise of an old cover unless something major is about to happen."

"Well, I'm taking up a contract from the FBI and CIA and will be under deep cover for the next four months," Nerissa explained to Nathalie mentally bracing herself for the explosion that she knew was coming.

"What! I thought you said you would never! Ever! Ever! take another contract again!" Nathalie yelled into the phone, "You have Anastasia now! What the hell were you thinking taking a deep cover contract! Of all the irresponsible things! You went and accepted a four month mission! What were you thinking!"

"I know you're mad," Nerissa said

"Mad!? Mad!? I'm seething!" Nathalie growled.

"Hear me out," Nerissa said calmly, "the reason I took it is because of the pay out."

"The payout!? Nerissa Anne I know you did not just say that! Your daughter is more important that some money!" Nathalie exclaimed.

"Nat, they're paying me $4,000,000," Nerissa cut in and hearing her friend go silent she continued, "With that much money I can send Anastasia to all of the best schools, pay all of her college tuition, and I won't ever have to work over-time again just to pay the bills. Nat I took this job for her! So she could have the life I never got to have."

"Riss, what if you die? Do you really think that Ana would rather go to an Ivy-League school or have her mother? Do you really think she'll care about those things if you aren't there to see them happen?" Nathalie questioned.

"It's not supposed to be dangerous, it's only supposed to be an investigative mission," Nerissa told her friend.

"Look, I'm not going to tell you what's right or wrong but if you think this is what's best for your little girl, then so be it. However, you are seriously delusional if you think for a second that a mission that has the CIA involved won't be dangerous," Nathalie accused.

"I know what I'm doing Nat, I'm the Black Hand remember?" Nerissa reminded Nathalie.

"No, Riss," Nathalie said quietly, "You _used_ to be the Black Hand, but you're not _her_ anymore, Ava Strinne died four years ago in a warehouse in Orlando! _You,_ my friend, are Nerissa Anne Caine, you are a friend, a co-worker, a CSI, a daughter, and above all else you are Anastasia's mother, never _ever_ forget that,"

"I won't Nat, I won't," Nerissa promised.

"Good," Nathalie said softening a little, "Now is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"One more thing before I have to lay Ana down for her nap," Nerissa admitted, "Can you check on Ana and my dad every once in awhile?"

"Of course Riss," Nathalie agreed, "Do you want me to do it secretly or are you going to tell your dad?"

"Secretly," Nerissa answered, "He still doesn't know about all of my old contacts and I would like to keep it that way, just in case anything goes wrong."

"Alright," Nathalie said, "Goodbye Nadia. I hope to see you again soon."

"I promise you will get to officially meet Ana when I return," Nerissa promised, "and that will give us a chance to catch up, goodbye Natalia." and with that she hung up the phone.


	8. Chapter 8

After her conversation with Nathalie, Nerissa was left feeling rather conflicted because Nat was right. What if she _did_ die? Would Ana be better off without her mother around to endanger her with her past, or would she be left feeling abandoned? Shaking her head Nerissa rid herself of those thoughts because she would _not_ die, it wasn't supposed to be dangerous. She would come home at the end of four months and in a few years, Ana wouldn't even remember this time in her life. So, Nerissa stood up and went to round up her daughter for her afternoon nap.

"Ana! Ana come on it's time for your nap!" Nerissa called to her daughter as she walked towards the living room, "Ana? Ana, come on it's time to take a nap." she repeated as she walked into the small living room but finding it empty she frowned since her daughter had been watching cartoons on the couch just a few minutes ago.

"Anastasia Renee! Where are you!?" she barked loudly, "This isn't funny! Where did you go?" Nerissa then began frantically searching the kitchen, Ana's room, and not finding any trace of her daughter she flew towards the back door hoping that her daughter had simply gone out to play on the swingset and had neglected to tell her mother, but she stopped short of the back door when she heard soft sniffling coming from inside the dryer.

"Ana?" Nerissa asked softly, rapping on the door of the dryer, "Are you in there?"

"No," came the soft reply from the inside.

"Are you sure?" Nerissa replied with a small laugh at her daughter's reply.

"Yes," was the reply from the dryer, so Nerissa opened the door.

"My little bird what's wrong?" Nerissa asked peering into the dryer, "Why are you crying?"

" 'm not cryin'," Ana sniffled.

"Yes, you are my love. Why don't you come out and tell mommy what's wrong?"

"No," Ana said petulantly.

"Ana baby, will you please come out and tell me what's wrong?" Nerissa pleaded gently.

"You're gonna leave me," Ana whispered tearfully.

"Ana, we talked about this the other day. It's only going to be for a few short months and then I'll be back and I won't ever have to leave again," Nerissa replied.

"You're a fibber. I heard you say you were leaving forever," Ana told her mother.

"When?" Nerissa asked.

"A lil bit ago. On the phone," she replied.

"Oh Ana," Nerissa said, "I didn't say I was leaving forever. I told my friend Nathalie that I feel like I will be gone forever because I'm going to miss you so much."

"Really?" Ana asked.

"Really, really," Nerissa answered and then her daughter was crawling out of the dryer into her lap, "I'm going to miss you so, so much my little bird."


	9. Chapter 9

"Ana? What do you want for dinner sweetheart?" Nerissa called into the living room.

"I dunno," the three-year-old replied still staring at her show.

"Do you want to have cheeseburgers?"

"Can we go out to eat?" Ana asked.

"We don't have time sweetie," Nerissa told her, "Your grampa will be here in an hour and a half."

Hearing her grandpa's name mentioned Ana perked up, "Grampa's comin'?"

"Yes, he's coming to get you for a sleepover at his house since I leave first thing tomorrow morning. Then he'll be staying here with you while I'm gone."

"Oh, you leaving tomorrow?" the little girl asked sullenly.

"Yes, little bird," Nerissa said, "I'm leaving tomorrow but just like I told you this morning I will be coming back, I promise."

"Okay," Ana said still a little glum, "Hamburgers are okay."

"Okay baby," Nerissa replied, "I'll go get them started."

* * *

"Ana," Nerissa said getting her daughter's attention, "Grampa's on his way here. You need to go get your bag and bunny so that you're ready to go when he gets here."

"Okay Mommy," Ana replied getting up from her spot on the floor where she was coloring, "I made this for you Mommy."

"It's beautiful my little bird!" Nerissa gushed as she examined the picture her daughter had handed her, "I will keep it forever."

"Will you take it with you when you go?" Ana asked, "So you won't forget about me."

"Of course Ana," Nerissa told her, "but I will take it because you made it with love because there is not a chance in this whole wide world that I would ever forget you."

"I love you, Mommy," Ana said as she walked out of the room.

As she watched her daughter go Nerissa felt her heart tighten a little feeling as though she was failing her daughter but she reminded herself that she was taking this job so that Ana could have the perfect childhood. Her thoughts couldn't haunt her for long though because she heard her dad let himself into the house.

"Riss?" Horatio called into the house.

"I'm in here Dad!" she called from the back office.

"Ana ready to go?" Horatio asked as he walked into the room.

"Yeah, she's getting Bunny and her bookbag as we speak," Nerissa replied.

"Riss, what's wrong?" Horatio asked sensing his daughter's silent distress.

"Nothing," she replied shortly.

"You're lying," Horatio pointed out.

"No, I'm not," she told her father looking him in the eye, daring him to contradict her again.

"Nerissa," he started.

"Ana! Grampa's here!" Nerissa yelled cutting her father off.

"Comin!" came the excited reply from down the hall and soon the three-year-old was standing in the doorway to the office, "Hi Grampa!"  
"Hey kiddo," Horatio replied putting on a smile for his grand-daughter, "You ready to go?"

"Yup," she replied.

"Alright, let's go then," he said gesturing for her to exit the room but before exiting Ana turned and ran over to her mother.

"Please come home, Mommy," Ana begged as she gripped her mother in a tight hug, "I'll miss you."

"I promise my little bird," Nerissa said tearfully as she embraced her daughter in a hug, "I'll come home and I'll never, ever leave again."

"Okay," Ana said crying, "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you too my little bird," Nerissa replied holding back tears, "Now go with Grampa. I'll be back before you know it."

"Bye Mommy," Ana replied before leaving.

"Bye Ana," Nerissa whispered as she heard the front door close and then she sunk into the office chair and began to sob.

After Ana and her father left Nerissa spent the rest of the night finishing up packing and cleaning up the house, again. Sleep didn't come easily for her that night as she spent a majority of it tossing and turning in her sleep that was plagued by a nightmare that she had often.

 _ **Nightmare**_

" _Come on, Ava," the voice taunted, "Come back to me, my child."_

" _Who's there?" Nerissa called._

" _Come home, Ava," the voice said, "Come home, my dear Ava."_

" _I'm NOT Ava!" Nerissa yelled into the gloom, "Not anymore, she is dead! Dead! Do you hear me!?"_

" _You will always be Ava, my child," the voice whispered, "You will always be my eighth child."_

" _Xavier," Nerissa gasped at the realization of who the voice belonged to, "You're dead! You can't hurt me anymore."_

" _No, but I can hurt everyone you love," he threatened._

" _No, you can't!" Nerissa yelled._

" _Watch me," he said as the gloom started to dissipate and what Nerissa saw chilled her to the bone._

" _Ana!" she screamed._

" _Mommy? Mommy where are you?" Ana asked trying to see through her blindfold._

" _I'm right here my little bird!" Nerissa called to her daughter, "I'm coming!"_

 _But Nerissa soon found that she could not move at all because some unseen force was holding her where she was._

" _Mommy!" Ana screamed in terror as she felt unfamiliar hands wrap around her._

" _ANA!" Nerissa yelled as she watched Xavier grab her daughter, "Get your hands off of her you bastard!"_

" _How does it feel, Ava?" he asked "How does it feel to have your life ripped away?" and as he finished speaking Ana disappeared from his grasp._

" _ANA!" Nerissa screamed, "Where is she you son of a bitch! What did you do to my daughter?" she yelled as she fell to her knees sobbing._

" _I did to her what you did to my life," he said walking towards her, "I extinguished her._

Nerissa woke with a start and immediately jumped up from her bed and ran to Anastasia's room, seeing it empty she panicked for a moment before remembering that Ana was with her dad. Since she could not shake the feeling that something could be wrong she sat down on the floor of Ana's room and dialed her dad.

"H'lo," answered a voice sleepily.

"Dad?" Nerissa asked.

"Riss what's wrong," Horatio asked suddenly very awake.

"Is Ana okay?" she asked.

"Yeah why?" he asked.

"Are you sure?" Nerissa asked him.

"She was fine when I put her to bed a few hours ago," he replied.

"Can you go check on her," Nerissa pleaded, "Please."

"Of course Riss," Horatio complied walking to the living room where his granddaughter was fast asleep on the couch, "She's fine Rissa. Sound asleep."

Breathing a sigh of relief she said, "Okay thanks, Dad. Bye."

"Wait. Nerissa, what's wrong?" Horatio asked

"Nothing Dad," she replied, "I just needed to be sure she was okay. Good night."

Then all Horatio heard was the dial tone.


	10. Chapter 10

Despite her best efforts, Nerissa could not get any more sleep that night so she just resolved to get up after two hours of sleeplessness, she didn't have much of an appetite so she decided to do something she hadn't had a chance to do in a while since she was always busy with Ana. After taking an hour of locating the appropriate attire for her exercise she finished lacing up her shoes and took off on a run, she had decided she wasn't going to set a goal on how far she would go but her phone was tucked away keeping track for her. It was almost 7:00 am by the time she returned home from her 14 mile run and she immediately jumped into the shower since she had to be at the airport in less than an hour, it would take her 15 minutes to get to their, but it didn't matter since it was a private plane that most definitely would not leave without her. However, she was certain that Fornell would be irritated if she was late but she didn't really care either way. On the bright side, her meager amount of baggage was already in her car ready to go so she could spend a few more minutes getting dressed, and after only twenty minutes she was on her way to the airport and 10 minutes after that she was walking up to her private plane.

"Hello Fornell," Nerissa greeted tightly.

"Nerissa," Fornell said, "Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," she replied.

"Alright, I'll go tell the captain that we're ready for take off. I assume you know the pre-flight procedure?" he asked

"I've been on so many flights that I could go through the procedure forward, backward and blindfolded," she told him.

"Of course," he said, "I'll be right back."

While Nerissa was waiting for Fornell's return she took a seat by a window, began going through the proper pre-flight procedures, and then settled in for what was going to be a long flight, or at least it would feel like it.

"Can I get you anything Miss?" asked the flight attendant.

"A water would be nice, thank you," she replied smiling.

"Anything to eat?" asked the flight attendant.

"No, thanks," Nerissa replied shaking her head since her stomach was in knots in anticipation for the mission.

"Alright, I'll be right back with your drink," the flight attendant said with a smile.

"Alright, Nerissa," said Fornell as he took his seat, "We have few things to discuss before we get too far into the flight."

"Such as?" she asked.

"Such as specifics and a general timeline of what your first week or two in California is going to be like," he replied.

"Alright, then let's get to it," Nerissa replied.

"Okay, so we'll be in California before the end of the day," Fornell began, "Which means you will only have time to get comfortable in your living quarters tonight."

Nerissa interrupted, "How far from Stark Industries will I be living?"

"It's only a short walk from the main offices where you will be working the most," he explained, "Your apartment has several quick, easy and hidden escape routes on the chance that your cover is compromised, it is also close to many public transportation hubs if you must escape using those methods."

"Perfect," Nerissa said, "Continue."

"So, the next three days you will have to shop for anything you might need for your apartment, such as clothes, food, and toiletries," Fornell told Nerissa, "You won't have to worry about anything like furniture, appliances, towels, etc because the CIA and FBI have fully stock your home with those items."

"Should I add any homey touches in case Stark or anyone from work decides to drop by unexpectedly?" she asked.

"It probably wouldn't hurt because Mr. Stark is known to get close to his female secretaries and assistants," he replied, "Which leads into another part. I don't think this will be a problem for you but I caution you to not get emotionally invested in this case."

"Will not be a problem Fornie," she said both teasingly and seriously.

"Didn't think it would but I just wanted to put it out there," Fornell replied, "Anyway, on Tuesday you will have your interview with Mr. Stark at 2:30 p.m at the main offices on the 30th floor. It is very important that you do well at this point but it is almost guaranteed that you will get it because Mr. Stark will find that none of the other applicants will show up to their appointments."

"Woah! Wait a minute," Nerissa interjected, "You're not hurting anyone are you?"

"No, of course not," Fornell assured, "but the other applicants will find themselves at a different location being given fake interviews and Stark Industries does not set up alternate appointments for those who miss their initial interview."

"Okay," she said breathing a sigh of relief because despite being a former assassin she was a different person now and did not want anybody to get hurt that did not need to.

"Since none of the other applicants will be interviewed you will most likely get the call by the end of that business day and will more than likely be expected to begin the next day," he continued.

"What will my cover be?" Nerissa asked.

"Arissa Winters, 21 years old, originally from Bellevue, Illinois but moved to California just a few short weeks ago to escape the oppression of her overbearing parents, you graduated at the top of your class from MIT with degrees in Engineering and Engineering in Computer Sciences and you like the color purple." he replied, "You also are fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Arabic, and Latin."

"I guess I need to brush up on my Arabic," Nerissa told him, "I haven't used it in quite a while."

"Your apartment has language DVDs on all of those languages ready for use," Fornell said.

"You guys are more thorough at creating covers than Xavier ever was," Nerissa told him, "and that is kind of disturbing considering Xavier was a very thorough man."

"This is an important assignment," Fornell said seriously, "We took every precaution to ensure that you stand the best chance of making it through this assignment without your cover being blown."

"Thank you," Nerissa said, "I really do appreciate it."

"You are very welcome Nerissa," he replied, "I personally oversaw the preparations because I wanted to be sure you would get away cleanly so you could go home to your family without worry."

"Thanks," Nerissa said, "I think I'm going to go to the sleeping quarters and lie down for a bit."

"Of course," he said, "You will need your rest for this mission and we touch down in about 4 and a half hours."


	11. Chapter 11

Despite laying down for four hours Nerissa still didn't feel rested because her nerves were shot.

"Come on Nerissa. Get it together," she told herself, "You've been on hundreds of missions like this there is no reason to be this nervous."

As she paced around the small sleeping cabin she tried to mentally prepare herself for the inevitable touchdown but she just could not shake her nerves and she was becoming increasingly irritated with herself because she couldn't figure out what was different to make her feel this nervous. Of course, she continued to overlook the fact that she had a family now, one that would miss her if she did not return from this, a daughter who would mourn her mother, a father who would be destroyed if she did not return. Before she could work herself up any further a knock came at the door.

"Yes?" she called from the cabin.

"Nerissa it is almost time for the descent. You need to come buckle in," Fornell said.

"Alright, I'll be out in a minute," Nerissa replied taking a shaky breath.

"Nerissa, welcome to California," Fornell said as she sat down across from him.

"It's been a long time since I've been here," she said lost in thought.

"The Exxon Crisis, correct?" Fornell asked.

"Yeah," she replied deep in thought, "That was probably my favorite contract."

"A lot of people died," Fornell pointed out with a frown.

"Yeah," Nerissa said a little regretfully, "but it was the first solo large scale contract that Xavier trusted me with."

"I didn't realize you were nostalgic for those days," Fornell said grimly.

"I'm not really but that's not a part of my life that I can just forget," Nerissa said, "as much as I hate Xavier he was the man who raised me and without him, I wouldn't be the person I am today."

Fornell couldn't come up with a good argument for that so he just fell silent and stared out the window as the plane continued to descend and soon the plane touched down and the pair were deboarding. Once they were standing on solid ground Fornell turned and spoke, "Well Ms. Winters," he said adopting Nerissa's cover name, "It was a pleasure escorting you and I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you Agent Fornell," she said nodding, "I appreciated the company. Until we meet again."

Then she was ushered into the taxi that would take her to her new apartment, to her new home while she was in California.

* * *

After a short drive, the taxi slowed to a halt outside of a small, high-class apartment building in a middle-class section of town.

"Welcome to California Ms. Winters," the cabi said.

"Thank you," Nerissa replied.

"Would you like some help with your bags?" the cabi asked.

"No, but thank you for the offer," Nerissa told him, "Have a nice day."

As Nerissa retrieved her meager belongings from the trunk of the cab she took a quick look up at her new home for the next few months and began an assassin's examination of the exterior of the building. She knew that her apartment was on the backside of the building, on the ground level, and had several hidden pathways out of the building hidden within the apartment and the building. Satisfied with her familiarity of the exterior she moved inside to get the keys to her apartment.

"Welcome to the Estates Apartment Complex, how can I help you?" asked the desk manager.

"I recently signed a lease for an apartment and would like to get my keys," Nerissa replied.

"Can I get a name, please?" the desk manager asked.

"Arissa Winters," Nerissa replied.

"Oh! Ms. Winters we've been anxiously awaiting your arrival," the desk manager said, "My name is Henry and I'll show you to your apartment momentarily but there are a few details that were left blank on your lease and I was wondering if you could fill them out real quick."

"Sure, I can do that," Nerissa agreed.

"Perfect," Henry said, "Now where was your last place of work?"

"I haven't had a job yet," Nerissa replied, seeing Henry's face she continued, "Up until now my parent's have paid for all of my expenses but they did not agree with my decision to move to California they cut me off. Thankfully I will be starting a rather high paying job at Stark Industries here in a few days."

"I see," Henry said and after a few more short questions he was ushering her towards her new apartment. Nerissa's apartment was at ground level for strategic purposes and only down a short hallway from the main lobby, Nerissa was expecting a rather humble apartment with the basic amenities but not much more…. she was so wrong. Her apartment was the most luxurious in the building, or at least that's what Henry boasted as he opened the door, and featured a full master bath with a waterfall shower, a garden tub, and the kitchen. The kitchen left her breathless, it was furnished with high end, modern, stainless steel appliances and marble countertops.

"Oh wow," Nerissa said breathless.

"Is it agreeable to you Ms. Winters?" asked Henry.

"Very," she replied grinning, "Thank you, Henry,"

"You're very welcome Ms. Winters," he said bowing slightly.

"Please," Nerissa said, "Call me Ner… uh... Arissa."

"Of course, Arissa," Henry said, "If you need anything else just call the front desk."

Then Nerissa was left by herself, still turning in slow circles taking in the luxury that is her apartment but her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing.

"Hello," she answered.

"Ms. Winters, it's Agent Fornell with the FBI. I was just calling to see if you had made it safely to your new apartment." Fornell said.

"Oh yes, I have definitely made it to my apartment," she said.

"How do you like it?" he asked.

"You could have told me that it was a freaking mansion smashed into an apartment!" she yelled.

"But where is the fun in that," Fornell replied laughing.

"I guess but why am I living in a mini mansion?" Nerissa asked, "Won't it seem suspicious, I'm just a secretary whose parents cut her off from the family fortune?"

"If anyone asks just tell them that you had a large amount of money saved up and used it to pay the down payment on the apartment. Besides, Stark pays his secretaries very well." Fornell told her.

"You guys sure do your homework, don't you?" Nerissa asked him.

"For you," he said, "Always."

"Thank you again, Agent Fornell," Nerissa said adopting a more formal tone, "I really appreciate your help."

"You're very welcome, Ms. Winters," Fornell said gently, "If you need anything don't hesitate to call." But as Fornell uttered those words they both knew that it was only a formality, in case anyone was listening in on either side of the conversation, because when they hung up Nerissa would be on her own.


	12. Chapter 12

The next couple of days flew by in a rush to buy new clothes, art to hang and other homey touches, and groceries. She had contemplated buying picture frames and putting a few pictures of herself up but she decided not to since most pictures she had access to could be easily traced back to Miami from the background and all of the others were the few she had from her days with Xavier and the other assassins. So she finally decided to just buy some art and tell anyone who asked that she wanted to make a clean break from home, which wouldn't really be lying. Buying the clothes was an adventure in itself, Nerissa was overwhelmed by all of the stores that were offered close to her apartment. Every single one of them were fancy stores for business people and walking into them she felt very out of place in her jeans and blouse, and it wasn't any better after she looked at the first price tag. Talk about sticker shock for the young mother, who had begun to really wish that there was a Wal-Mart or K-Mart close by but even if there was it was unlikely that they would have what she was looking for. So, on she went shopping but she didn't feel as guilty because she was using the credit card, that was under her cover name, given to her by the CIA. Finally, the day of her interview was here. Nerissa got up bright and early at 5:00 a.m. for her morning run, returned home at 7:00 a.m. to shower and immediately got back into her pajamas to lounge around her apartment until noon, and at noon she dressed in a button up shirt so that she could do her hair. After thirty minutes spent on her hair, she carefully got dressed in one of her new suits, carefully strapping on various ceramic daggers that would not set off any alarms, as well as concealing a small gun at her hip in a manner that was guaranteed not to set off any alarms. _No, you don't get to ask how she did it either, an assassin never reveals their secrets._ After spending another half an hour getting all of her things together she walked out the door at 1:00 o'clock on the dot so that she could take the bus to Stark Industries in order to get a feel of the city's transportation systems. The bus ride took forty-five minutes because she took the longest route for strategic reasons and she walked in the door of Stark Industries Headquarters at 2:00 o'clock. Her interview was not until 2:30 but she had planned on using the extra time to scope out a general layout of the building and at 2:25 she walked into the waiting area of Mr. Stark's office.

"Hello, how can I help you?" asked the secretary.

"Hello, my name is Arissa Winters and I have a 2:30 interview with Mr. Stark," Nerissa replied smiling politely.

"Oh! Of course Ms. Winters. I'll let Mr. Stark know you're here right away. If you could just take a seat right over there." the secretary said gesturing to a small line of chairs.

"Thank you," Nerissa said as she walked over and took a seat but she did not sit idly, she took a minute to examine her surroundings with a critical eye.

"Ms. Winters, Mr. Stark will see you in just a few minutes," the secretary told her.

"Of course," she replied.

"I'm sure Mr. Stark is very happy you're here," the secretary said.

"Why is that?" Nerissa asked, but she had a sneaking suspicion as to the reason.

"You're the first interview to show up today, out of five other ladies," the secretary said slightly incredulously.

"Really?" Nerissa said feigning shock.

"Really," the secretary confirmed, "I am quite surprised at that."

"I am, too. I find it hard to believe that someone would stand up a man such as Mr. Stark! I couldn't imagine intentionally missing out on such a wonderful opportunity." Nerissa said.

"I guess they just don't find this job very glamorous," the secretary said.

"Oh! I'm not taking your job am I?" Nerissa asked, "You're so kind I wouldn't want to do that."

"Oh no, you're most definitely not! I just need to cut down on my hours so you will be doing similar jobs that I do but you won't be confined to this desk like I am," the secretary said, "You will be a traveling secretary of sorts, doing the same things but you will float around. Kind of like a cross between an assistant and a secretary, you'll also be helping Pepper out a bit. You know relieving her of some of her stress."

"That makes sense," Nerissa said, "I am really hoping that I get the job."

"With your looks and personality I've no doubt that you'll get it," the secretary said.

"Thanks, uh, I don't believe I caught your name," Nerissa said a little ashamed.

"Oh, how rude of me. My name is Ella. Ella Harper," the secretary, Ella, said.

Laughing a little Nerissa replied, "Well, it's nice to meet you, Ella."

"Same to you," she replied before answering her phone, "Yes, of course, I'll send her right in."

Hanging up her phone Ella turned to Nerissa, "Mr. Stark is ready for you Ms. Winters. You can go right in."

Shaking off the butterflies in her stomach Nerissa stood, "Okay, thank you, Ella. It was a pleasure to meet you and I hope we get the chance to work together."

"Good luck," she replied, "Hope to see you on the other side.

"Mr. Stark?" Nerissa said as she stepped into the luxurious office.

"Ah, you must be Arissa," a bald man said standing from a seat by the desk, "I'm Obadiah Stane, I will be helping Mr. Stark with your interview."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stane," she replied smiling as she shook his hand, all the while eyeing the man that supposedly wanted Tony Stark dead.

"And same to you," he said, "As I'm sure you already know this is Tony."

"Yes, I do," Nerissa said, "It is an honor to meet such well-known men."

"Aw, look at that," Tony said, "She's already sucking up."

"Tony," Stane snapped, "Please take a seat Ms. Winters and we'll get started."

Nerissa chose a seat close to the door, sat and waited a moment before her interview started.

"So, Ms. Winters," Obadiah said, "Tell us a little about yourself."

"Well, My name is Arissa Winters. I am 21 years old, originally from Bellevue, Illinois," she started, "but I moved to California just a few short weeks ago to escape small town living and I graduated at the top of my class from MIT with degrees in Engineering and Engineering in Computer Sciences. I am a very well organized person and work well with others, and my favorite color is purple."

"What makes you think that you deserve this job?" Tony asked leaning forward in his chair.

"I don't think that I necessarily _deserve_ it but I do think that I come very well qualified for it. I was an assistant in a state crime lab for two years. If I can handle that kind of crazy, I'm pretty sure that I can handle managing your life," Nerissa said in a tone that made Stark sit up a little straighter.

"What makes you think a crime lab is crazier than my life?" Tony asked acting as though he did not like Arissa, but he really actually liked her attitude.

"You're just another boy genius," Nerissa replied simply, "I dealt with real life crazies and murderers in that lab. I also come from a family that is fairly wealthy and was in our local news quite a bit, so I know a bit about dealing with the press."

Laughing darkly at her comment Stark said, " Is there anything else you're hiding behind those glasses of yours?"

"I am skilled in many different combat arts and I speak fluent French, Italian, Russian, Arabic, and Latin," she said matter of factly

"Latin? Can one even speak Latin?" Stark asked turning to Obadiah.

"I don't think so, it's a dead language," Obadiah replied.

" _Non tam certa. Multa minime viderentur_ , Mr. Stark," Nerissa said.

"What?" Stark and Stane asked at the same time.

"I said 'do not be so sure," she said, "Many things are not as they might seem."

"I guess so," he said contemplatively, "Well Ms. Winters I enjoyed our little chat. We will be in contact within the next few days to notify you if you get the job. Have a nice day."

"Thank you both," she replied and made her exit.

The second that the door shut Tony's face broke into a wide grin.

"Oh no, no, no and no," Obadiah said looking at Tony

"What?" asked Tony innocently.

"You want to hire her," Obadiah accused.

"I like her," her replied simply.

"No," Obadiah said, "She is mouthy, disrespectful, and full of herself."

"Ah Obi, she was just responding to my attitude," Tony said defending Arissa.

"No," Obadiah said, "She was just showing her true colors and they're not very pretty."

"She's very pretty," Tony replied, "Did you see how her red hair shimmered and her crystal blue eyes glittered."

"Yes, I noticed how pretty she was," Obadiah agreed, "but her attitude was unforgivable."

"I disagree," Tony argued, "She reacted accordingly. She is a rather small girl and if she wants to make it anywhere in this business she needs to have a bit of an attitude and a bit of fire in her."

Seeing he was fighting a losing battle Obadiah said, "Well, let's just see how the next interviewees hold up."

"Alright," Tony conceded. "I'll ask Ella if the next one is here yet." so he picked up the phone and dialed out to the main office, "Ella, dear, is the next appointment here?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Stark but they are not," Ella replied.

"Thank you, Ella," Tony replied hanging up and then turning to Obadiah, "She's got something else going for her."

"What's that?" asked Obadiah sarcastically.

"She's the only one that's bothered to show up today," Tony said bitterly.

"Really?" Obadiah asked surprised, "I thought for sure that more than this would have shown up."

"I guess you were wrong, Obi," Tony said patting him on the back.

Hours later no one else had shown up for an interview and Tony was almost jumping for joy when the last interview time was up.

"Ha! Now we have to hire her!" Tony roared victoriously.

"I think we need one last opinion," Obadiah said.

"Who are we going to ask?" Tony asked, "No one else was in here for the interview."

"Ella," Obadiah replied, "She's bound to have spoken with her."

"Fine," Tony said dialing out to Ella, "Ella can you come in here please."

"Yes, sir?" Ella asked coming in the door.

"Did you speak with Ms. Winters earlier, when she was here for her interview?" Tony asked.

"Yes, I did sir," Ella replied.

"Did you speak at length or just exchange pleasantries?" Obadiah asked.

"We spoke for a few minutes," she replied.

"What did you think of her?" Tony asked.

"I thought she was very nice," Ella said, "She was pleasant to talk to, very respectful."

"See Obi! I told you she was just responding to my attitude!" Tony said.

"Ella, do you think she would be a good fit for the job?" Obadiah asked ignoring Tony.

"If I may be so bold, sir" Ella replied, "I think you would be stupid not to hire her."

"Thank you, Ella," Tony said dismissing her before Obadiah could further interview her.

"You're very welcome, sir," she said bowing out.

"She's hired!" Tony said with finality.

"If that's what you think is best, Tony," Obadiah said, "but don't said I didn't tell you so when this blows up in your face."

"I guarantee it won't Obi," Tony replied, "I'll have Ella call her in the morning, tell her that she starts the next day."


	13. Chapter 13

Leaving Stark Industries Nerissa decided that she was going to walk back to her apartment in order to learn the different routes to and from the offices. As she was walking home she began to silently reprimand herself for allowing her attitude to get the best of her during the interview, with the way she acted she was almost guaranteed to _not_ get the job even if she was the only one to interview.

"How stupid can you be!?" Nerissa thought angrily to herself, "Why did you let your temper get the best of you Nerissa Anne? Huh? Why?! You could have just screwed up your only chance to give Ana a chance at a comfortable life! Idiot! Why did I think it was a good idea to take this job?!"

As she stomped into the main lobby of her apartment, not paying attention to where she was going, she slammed right into Henry,

"Oh!" Nerissa cried, "Henry I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there."

"It's quite alright Ms. Winters," Henry said reaching for the papers that he had been carrying, "It's entirely my fault."

"No," she replied helping him pick up his papers, "it's mine. I was so caught up in my self-pity that I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Are you alright, Ms. Winters?" Henry asked concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied quietly, "I just had a bad day, and call me Arissa."

"Right," Henry laughed, "You mentioned that before. I hope your day gets better, Arissa."

"Thank you, Henry," Nerissa replied handing him his last paper, "Have a nice day."

"You too, Arissa," Henry replied smiling.

Nerissa took a moment to compose herself before continuing on to her apartment, walking in the door she sensed something was off. Someone had been in her apartment, the art on the walls was shifted an inch to the left, her couch was slightly askew, papers had been rifled through, and her pajamas from this morning were slightly less crumpled than before. Nerissa drew her small pistol from her purse and began creeping through her apartment searching for signs that the perpetrator was still here, finding none she began a walkthrough of her apartment checking to see if anything was missing, again she found nothing. She was very unnerved by the invasion of her home and was extremely worried that her cover had already been compromised, but before letting her panic get the best of her she decided to treat this like she would a crime scene. First up, she had to call Henry to see if anyone had gone through him to get to her apartment.

"Front Desk. This is Henry," Henry's voice spoke over the phone.

"Hi, Henry," Nerissa said, "It's Arissa Winters."

"Arissa," he said, "What can I help you with?"

"Did anyone show up today looking for my apartment?" Nerissa asked neutrally.

"Yes they did," Henry affirmed, "It was Central Cleaners. They showed and they told me to tell you that you're clear of all bugs and parasites."

"Central Cleaners?" Nerissa said confused.

"They're an extermination service," Henry replied, "They had an appointment card with your signature on it. Did you not call them?"  
Not wanting Henry to worry she lied, "Oh! I'm so forgetful sometimes! I totally forgot that I stopped there the other day on my walk to set up an appointment."

"It's alright, Arissa," he replied politely laughing, "I bet with all the stress of your move it just slipped your mind."

"I guess," she laughed, "Thanks for putting up with my stupidity Henry."

"You're welcome," he replied, "Goodbye, Arissa."

Hanging up she decided to do a little research on Central Cleaners and on her way to the office she detoured to the refrigerator to get a glass of juice. When she reached in for the bottle she noticed a note taped to the lid:

- _Arissa,_

 _We did a thorough sweep of your apartment to make sure that no-one had bugged you. You're all clean._

 _~Fornie_

Reading the note from Fornell all of the fear drained right out of her and she breathed a sigh of relief that it was only Fornell and his team that had been in her apartment. She made a mental note to herself to tell Fornell that his team needed to learn the definition of "leave no sign of your presence". Then she would promptly head slap him for going through her underwear drawer.

* * *

"H'lo?" Nerissa said groggily answering the phone.

"Ms. Winters?" asked a voice over the phone.

"Yes?" Nerissa asked still half asleep.

"Ms. Winters, this is Ella Harper from Stark Industries calling to give you some great news!" Ella said excitedly.

"Really?" Nerissa said skeptically.

"You got the job!" Ella informed her and Nerissa bolted awake, "Mr. Stark would like you to start first thing tomorrow morning if that is suitable to your schedule."

"Um, yeah," Nerissa said breathing a sigh of relief, "That sounds fantastic."

"Great!" Ella said, "Mr. Stark would like you to meet him here in his office at 8:00 a.m. to go over your duties and other responsibilities with him and Ms. Potts but you should be here by at least 7:00 a.m., I'm sure Happy would like to go over security protocols with you and get you your clearance badge and credentials."

"Happy?" Nerissa asked confused.

"Yes, Happy Hogan," Ella said laughing, "He's our head of security and Mr. Stark's personal escort and driver whenever he is out and about."

"Ah," Nerissa said the name finally clicking with the face in her mind, "Well, where should I meet him for that?"

"In the main security lobby," Ella informed her, "It's on the main level, just tell the receptionist down there who you are and why you're there and she'll inform Happy you're there."

"Okay," Nerissa said jotting down notes, "Anything else?"  
"Nope, that covers it," Ella said cheerfully, "I look forward to working with you!"

"Great," Nerissa said, "Thank you, Ella. I can't wait to be coworkers! Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Ms. Winters," Ella said hanging up.

"YES!" Nerissa cheered after setting her phone in the cradle, "I did it!"

Her adrenaline was pumping and her nerves were jumping, because she was about to start her first mission in years. She flopped back into her bed and laughed like a giddy schoolgirl, thrilled that she hadn't completely fudged her only chance at giving Anastasia the best life possible. Nerissa felt as though a _huge_ weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, she could breathe again and after her nerves calmed she bolted out of bed and began rushing around like a chicken with its head cut-off. There was _so_ much to do and so little time she had to get her hair cut, as it was almost to her waistline, buy a few last minute supplies that she'd been holding off on purchasing until after she got the job, get groceries, tell her dad about her new job… wait… Nerissa stopped dead in her tracks and stood frozen in the middle of her apartment. It had _finally_ hit her for the first time since arriving in Florida that she couldn't tell her family about anything that happened while she's here. Of course, she knew that going in but it just hit her really hard in that second, she hadn't been away from her dad in almost 3 years, not since Xavier killed Tyler and she didn't know how to feel about the separation. So, she did what she had always been trained to do when she was unsure of what to do next, she stopped for a moment, took a deep breath and then kept going.

* * *

The next morning Nerissa woke up bright and early to get ready for her first day working at Stark Industries and she was determined to make the best of it. She did her hair, put on her best pants suit, and made a quick exit out her door.

"Arissa!" Henry called as she sped through the lobby.

"Henry, I really don't have time," she said still walking towards the door.

"But Arissa," Henry said, "A gentleman left you a message."

Stopping dead in her tracks, she turned, "What? Who?"

"He said you'd know who he was," Henry replied, "His message said 'Good job, knew you could do it.'"

Smiling because she _did_ know who left the message she told Henry, "Thanks but I really, really have to go now. Today's my first day at Stark Industries!"

"That's fantastic! Good luck, Arissa!" Henry called as she sped out the door and all she could manage in reply was a quick wave.

* * *

After spending an hour getting put into the security database and going over protocols with the head of security, Happy, Nerissa was equipped with a brand new Stark Industries ID badge and key card, and as Mr. Stark's assistant/ secretary both of these would give her full access to all of Stark Industries' facilities. For Nerissa it was slightly unnerving seeing her picture on that ID badge but not her given name, instead, it donned her cover name, Arissa R. Winters, but she had shaken it off and continued with the security questions. Now, she was headed upstairs to get her first set of orders from Tony.

As she stepped off the elevator Ella looked up and smiled when she saw her, "Hey! There's my new favorite co-worker!"

"Hi, Ella!" Nerissa said, "How are you today."

"I'm great," she replied, "Are you ready for your first day of work?"

"Very," Nerissa said leaning on the desk, "It's all so surreal. I can't believe I got the job."

"Well, believe it," Ella told her, "You are now a proud employee of Stark Industries!"

"I know!" she said in disbelief, "It's just so weird!"

"I bet," Ella said, "I remember my first day here. I spilled coffee all over Mr. Stark and I thought for sure I was a goner."

"You didn't!" Nerissa said.

"I did, though," Ella replied laughing, "But Mr. Stark forgave me pretty quickly."

"That's good," Riss said, "I hope I don't do anything that stupid."

"I'm sure you won't," Ella assured her, "Besides if you do I'm absolutely positive that he would forgive you almost immediately."

"Why is that?" Nerissa asked curiously.

"The other day after your interview Mr. Stark fought for you pretty hard," Ella told Nerissa, "Mr. Stane did _not_ want to hire you, but Mr. Stark really wanted you."

"Really?" Nerissa asked incredulously, she was shocked to hear that Tony had fought for her to be hired after the way she had treated him in the interview.

"Oh yeah," Ella assured her, "They argued for probably ten minutes but finally Mr. Stark decided to call me in to see what I thought."  
"So," Nerissa said curious, "You got me hired?"

"I doubt that my opinion was the deciding factor," Ella said modestly, "I think Mr. Stark only asked me in because he wanted to rub it in Mr. Stane's face."

Nerissa laughed at the last part, "That sounds like something Stark would do."

Ella started to reply but before she could Tony Stark exited his office and asked, "What sounds like something I would do?"

Ella at a loss for words at being caught talking about her boss Nerissa swooped into the rescue.

"Rubbing something in someone's face," Nerissa replied without even thinking about it and then kicked herself for saying it. What the hell is wrong with me she wondered to herself, was her filter broken?

Laughing at Nerissa's quick reply he said, "That does sound exactly like something I would do. Now, Ms. Winters, are you ready to get to work?"

"Of course, Mr. Stark," she replied quickly, "What can I do for you?"


	14. Chapter 14

Two weeks. Two weeks is how long Nerissa had been working for Tony Stark and she was already ready to throw in the towel. Tony Stark was the single most petulant and needy adult that Nerissa had ever met! He was constantly having her run silly errands such as buying toilet paper when there was already FIVE packages of it in the closet and buying printer cartridges when he didn't even have a printer in his house and now two weeks in Nerissa was almost ready to quit. However, the only thing stopping her was Ana. She just kept reminding herself that she had to see this job through in order to get the money that the FBI had promised her, the money she needed to give Ana a better life. So, she did what she had always been trained to do, she sucked it up and kept going, and currently that meant that she had to take the take out down to Mr. Stark in his basement workshop.

"There you are!" Tony called across the shop, "I was beginning to wonder if you had been run over by a bus on the way to pick up the food!"

"Sorry, it took so long Mr. Stark. There was a bad accident on Main street, backed up traffic for a mile in either direction," Nerissa explained apologetically.

"Well," Tony said, "Next time don't take as long."

"It won't happen again, sir," Nerissa said biting back a rude retort.

"See that it doesn't," Tony told her bluntly.

"Is there anything else that I can get for you, sir?" Nerissa asked politely.

"No," Tony replied, "You can go home for the night."

"Goodnight, sir," Nerissa said turning to leave, slowly because she knew that he actually wasn't done demanding things from her just yet.

"Dammit!" Tony cursed sliding out from underneath the car he was working on, "Arissa, come here!"

Sighing Nerissa turned back down the stairs, "Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"Hand me the first aid kit," he said cradling his hand against his stomach.

"Yes, sir," she said walking across the room grabbing the first aid kit from its home on the workbench.

"May I?" Nerissa asked gesturing to his injury.

"Yeah, sure," he said shoving his hand towards her and Nerissa immediately went to work cleaning and bandaging her boss's cut hand. Nerissa expertly and efficiently cleaned, disinfected, and bandaged Tony's hand in under two minutes as Tony watched fascinated with her speed.

"Huh," Tony said to himself examining his newly bandaged hand, "Didn't know you moonlighted as a nurse."

Nerissa laughed dryly, "I don't but I guess you could say I had a lot of experience with first aid growing up."

"Well, you can be my nurse any day," Tony told her.

"I think I'll pass," Nerissa said unimpressed with his tone, "If there's nothing else I can help you with, I think I'll head home."

"You could always tuck me into bed and read me a story," Tony said wagging his eyebrows.

"I'd rather shoot myself in the foot," Nerissa snorted, "Good night, Mr. Stark."

"Good night, Arissa," Tony said and then she was gone.

Tony continued work on his car late into the night and in that time he did a lot of thinking and plotting. Plotting ways to piss Arissa off enough to bring out that feisty side that he enjoyed so much, he could tell that since she was hired Arissa was trying very hard to be mild mannered and please her boss and Tony could respect that. However, the only reason Tony hired her in the first place was for her attitude and he would do anything to finally bring that out in her, he had succeeded a few times in getting a sharp answer out of her a few times but he hadn't made her snap yet like he wanted to. It seemed that his little errands weren't doing the trick in irritating her enough, so Tony formulated the perfect plan to _finally_ make his assistant snap.

* * *

"Arissa," Tony called over the intercom in his house, "Can you come down here please?"

"I'll be right there, sir," she replied.

"Hurry," he replied and by his tone, Nerissa could tell that whatever he wanted _couldn't_ be good.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Stark," Nerissa asked walking into the workshop.

"You can hand me that screwdriver," Tony snapped, "and don't take your time doing it either."

Nerissa hurriedly handed him the screwdriver but as she did Tony dropped it.  
"Dammit!" he cursed, "Can't you do anything right?!"

"Sorry, sir. It just slipped," Nerissa replied quietly, biting back a rude response.

"Don't 'sorry sir' me!" Tony shouted, "You are such a klutz! I would have been better off hiring a robot for an assistant than you!"

Nerissa was struggling to not yell back something equally as berating and had to dig her fingernails into her palms to stop herself.

"To think!" Tony yelled continuing his abuse, "I fought to hire you! I should have just let Obi throw your application in the trash! Pretend that your interview never happened!"

"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU?!" Nerissa screamed, the last string finally broken, "Not getting the job would have been so much better than running around all day doing stupid errands for a man-child! Everyone thinks you're such a genius but all you are is a whiny. Petulant. CHILD! Who can't even remember his own social security number!"

Seething Nerissa just stood there, glaring murderously at Tony Stark and then he had the nerve to start clapping,

"What on earth could you possibly be clapping for!?" Nerissa asked incredulously.

"I'm clapping because you _finally_ gave me what I really wanted," Tony told her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?" Nerissa asked wondering if he had finally lost his mind.

"You dropped that silly obedient facade you've been keeping since you got hired," Tony said, "I appreciate the effort I really do but I didn't hire you so you could act as my slave. If I wanted someone to call me 'sir' and 'Mr. Stark' all day I would have let Ella out from behind her desk."

Walking over to her he continued, "I hired you because I liked your fire, the bite behind your words, and most of all for your wonderful 'I'm not gonna take any crap from this billionaire' attitude."

"What?" Nerissa asked convinced that he indeed _had_ lost his mind.

"You walked into my office with a spring in your step, shoulders squared, head held high, and a spark in your eyes," Tony said, "I could tell then that you were the kind of person I wanted as my second assistant, and it didn't hurt that you're pretty gorgeous."

"So, let me get this straight," Nerissa said, "You hired me because I talked back?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Tony replied, "So now that we've got that out of the way let's start over. Hi, my name's Tony Stark, but you can call me Tony."

Sighing Nerissa replied, "Hi, Tony. My name is Arissa Winters but you can call me Riss."

"Riss," Tony said rolling it across his tongue, "I like it. Welcome to the team, Riss. Now that you've been through initiation you can begin your formal training with Pepper."

"That sounds great," Nerissa said smiling relieved that things were beginning to look up.


	15. Chapter 15

"No," Pepper said, "Absolutely not."

"Why Pepper?" Tony asked, "She's been working here for almost a month and she has increased the efficiency at which I work by almost 10 percent!"

"Because!" Pepper snapped, "She may be twenty-one years old but over there she may as well be a child."

"Oh, come on Peps," Tony said, "She is very mature for her age."

"No!" Pepper asserted, "You are not taking your twenty-one-year-old assistant into an active war zone with you. It's dangerous."

"It's not going to be dangerous," Tony said, "Besides we're going to have Rhodie with us, we'll be perfectly fine."

"It's not a good idea," Pepper repeated, "Any number of things can go wrong and I don't want you to be held responsible by her parents if anything goes wrong over there."

"We won't be held responsible by her parents, I guarantee it," Tony said passing that excuse off.

"And how do you know that Mr. Smarty-Pants," Pepper pushed.

"Because her parents disowned her," Tony said.

That stopped Pepper dead in her tracks, "They what?"

"Disowned her, cut her off," Tony said, "They didn't want her moving to California but she did anyway and they disowned her."

"That's harsh," Pepper said, "but that still doesn't change the fact that she shouldn't go to Afghanistan with you."

"Well, I can't exactly take you," Tony snapped, "Riss isn't ready to run the entire office by herself, especially not since Ella left, and I need someone to accompany me."

"Then take Happy," Pepper said trying anything to keep from sending an innocent girl into a war zone.

"I need him here," Tony replied, "She's my only option."

"I don't like it," Pepper told him, "We're in here arguing over whether or not we think she should go. Why don't we ask her?"

"Fine," Tony said picking up his phone and dialing out to the exterior office, "Riss? Can you come in here?"

"What's up boss man?" Nerissa asked walking into the office.

"I have a question for you," Tony said, "And I want you to be completely honest with me."

"What?" Nerissa asked worried about where this was headed.

"I have to go to Afghanistan tomorrow," Tony said, "Pepper can't go and I was wondering if you would like to go in her place?"

"Are you kidding?" Nerissa asked.

"Nope," Tony said, "Dead serious."

"Sure," Nerissa replied without hesitation, "I'm game."

"Great! It's decided then!" Tony said grinning like a Cheshire cat, "Be ready to leave first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Sure thing," Nerissa said walking out of the office.

As soon as the door closed Pepper turned to Tony, "If anything happens to her, it's on your head."

"It'll be fine Peps," Tony assured her, "Don't you worry your pretty little head for a moment about it."

* * *

"Anthony Stark!" Nerissa yelled coming down the stairs into his workshop, "We're supposed to be halfway around the world right now."

"Oh that's today isn't it?" Tony asked feigning surprise.

"Duh," Nerissa said rolling her eyes typing something on her tablet, "J.A.R.V.I.S, why didn't you remind him, it's programmed into your calendar?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Winters, I did remind him," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied over the speakers, "But Mr. Stark ignored my prompting this morning."

"It's alright J.A.R.V.I.S," Nerissa sighed, "Now, let's go, Tony, we're already late."

"I thought the point of having your own private jet was that it would never leave without me?" Tony asked still not moving to leave.

"Tony," Nerissa groaned.

"I'll leave as soon as I get this engine running," Tony said.

Frustrated Nerissa stomped over to where Tony was tinkering with the engine, snatched the screwdriver out of his hand, adjusted a few things and turned to Tony, "Go ahead, start it."

So, he reached over and turned the key and to Tony's surprise, the engine started without a hitch in it.

"You continue to surprise me, Ms. Winters," Tony said laughing at his assistant.

"What?" Nerissa asked, "You thought all those degrees from MIT where just for show?"

"Well," Tony said, "I didn't actually think you knew anything about cars."

"Now you know," Nerissa said picking her tablet and folder back up, "Now, let's go, Happy's waiting."

* * *

"Thought I lost you back there!" Tony called back to Happy, who had followed Tony in a separate vehicle.

"You did, sir," Happy replied, "I had to cut across town using the shortcut to catch back up."

"What about you Rissa?" Tony laughed calling to his assistant who had also followed in a separate car, "I'm not sure if I lost you or not."

"Nope," Nerissa boasted, "I just followed a little bit farther behind you"

"That makes you quite the little speed demon for a small town girl, doesn't it?" Tony laughed.

"Had to keep up with the big boys somehow," Nerissa teased, "Let's go Rhodie's waiting."

"Hey, Rhodie!" Tony yelled laughing still.

"You're late," Rhodie said seriously.

"We'll be fine!" Tony said brushing it off walking into the plane, "Besides this is my plane it's not like it can leave without me."

"Sorry Rhodie," Nerissa apologized, "He was tinkering with that stupid car again."

Rhodie's face softened with the young assistant's apology, "It's quite alright Miss Winters. I know how difficult he can be."

"Ha! You aren't kidding," Nerissa laughed walking into the plane and taking a seat, watching Stark flirt with the flight attendants.

"You ready for your first trip out of the country?" Rhodie asked taking a seat across from her.

"Oh yeah," Nerissa replied enthusiastically but in reality, she had been to Afghanistan a few different times seeking out contracts for Xavier, "I'm not sure about heading into a war zone, though."

"You'll be fine," Rhodie assured her, "We'll be traveling with a very decorated group of men and women."

"That's good," Nerissa said feigning relief, "Could you remind me exactly what your job with Stark Industries is?"

"I'm weapons liaison to Stark industries from the Air Force," Rhodie replied, "I'm a colonel in the Air Force."

"That's right," Nerissa said, "I feel silly now."

"No, it's fine," Rhodie replied, "I'm sure you've been overwhelmed since Ella left."

"Yeah," Nerissa said genuinely, "I really liked Ella but I'm glad she's happy with her new husband."

"Well," Rhodie said standing, "I have a few things to discuss with Tony. It was nice talking to you."

"Nice talking to you, too," Nerissa smiled and she settled in for the long flight to the Kunar Province, Afghanistan.

* * *

"Welcome to Afghanistan Mr. Stark," Colonel Jones greeted as Tony, Nerissa and Rhodie got off of the plane.

"Thank you, Colonel," Tony replied.

"Where's the lovely Ms. Potts?" the Colonel asked, "I'm not acquainted with this young lady."

"This is my junior assistant, Arissa Winters," Tony introduced, "She joined the team about a month ago."

"Hello, Colonel," Nerissa said shaking his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine," the Colonel smiled, then turned to Stark, "You're a few hours later than expected, Did you encounter and turbulence or other issues?"

"No," Tony laughed, "Only if you count my own lack of punctuality an issue."

"I do," Riss scoffed jokingly.

"Hush," Tony replied, "You're just mad because I never follow your cute little itineraries."

"Those _cute_ little itineraries are meant to keep you on time so that you don't miss any important meetings or deadlines," Nerissa replied, "You hired me to organize your schedule and I'm trying but you're a very difficult person to keep track of."

"I hired you because I like your attitude," Tony pointed out.

"You hired me as an assistant," Nerissa replied.

"And you've done an excellent job trying to manage my schedule," Tony complimented.

"But you're still not going to be on time for anything," Nerissa said.

"Got it in one!" Tony said getting into the humvee.

* * *

"That was a fine presentation Mr. Stark," Colonel Jones complemented walking towards the humvees after he had closed the sale presentation.

"Thank you," Tony replied, "It was a pleasure doing business with you."

"We'll always do business with you, Mr. Stark," the Colonel replied shaking his hand, "These vehicles will escort you back to the airfield and then you're back stateside."

Tony started to get into the first humvee and Rhodie came over, "Tony."

"I'm sorry but this is the Funvee," Stark said, "The Bumvee is back there."

"Be careful Tony," Rhodie said.

"I always am," he said climbing into the vehicle.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Nerissa assured Rhodie and he nodded and headed back to the other humvee.

After about twenty minutes sitting in awkward silence, Tony finally broke it, "Are we not allowed to talk?"

"You're allowed to talk, sir," one of them replied.

"Good," Stark said, "I felt like I was being led off to slaughter."

"Not quite," Nerissa laughed, "Just back to Stark Industries."

"Very funny," Stark said, "but seriously the silence was killing me."

"Not fast enough," Nerissa whispered under her breath just loud enough for the young man next to her to laugh in response.

"What was that, Ms. Winters?" Tony asked.

"Nothing, Mr. Stark," Nerissa replied innocently.

"So what's with the silent treatment?" Tony asked to the whole vehicle.

"You intimidate them," the woman driving said.

"Good god!" Tony said shocked, "You're a woman! I mean that's good, right? The equality thing."

The whole vehicle laughed at that and the young man next to Nerissa raised his hand like a high schooler.

"Really?" Stark asked, "The hand?"

The young man put his hand down but said, "Would it be okay if we took a picture together?"

"That would be very okay," Tony said.

"Awesome," the young man said and handed his camera to his friend, "Just hit the button."

"It's not working," his friend protested.

"Just press the but…" but before the young man could finish the humvee slammed to a stop when an IED exploded in front of them taking out the lead vehicle that had joined the caravan right before they departed the base.

"Son of a bitch!" the woman cursed jumping out of the vehicle.

"Stay here!" the young man who had wanted to take a picture with Stark ordered them but before he could get very far another bomb exploded in front of him and Stark and Nerissa were knocked sideways and Nerissa ended up on the ground.

"You okay, Riss?" Tony asked opening the door.

"Fine," Nerissa groaned trying to lift herself from the floor.

"You're bleeding," Tony said pressing a kerchief to her forehead "Stay here."

Before she could protest Tony jumped out of the vehicle and wandered into a battle zone, unarmed.


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks to her head wound it took Nerissa a moment to realize what had just happened but the second she managed to collect her thoughts she had jumped out of the Humvee, her adrenaline pumping, ignoring the throbbing pain in her skull.

"TONY!" Nerissa called desperately above the cacophony of gunshots echoing around her, "Where are you!"

Turning in circles desperately searching for Tony she kept calling his name over and over again, but there was no reply. Finally, she spotted a shock of brown hair peeking above a few rocks a short distance ahead of her and she immediately took off running towards it, but before she could reach him she saw him leap up clearly trying to get away from something and she quickly realized that it was a missile.

"TONY! RUN!" Nerissa screamed in terror and desperation but it was too late the missile exploded and Tony was launched backward several feet. Nerissa renewed her run and was soon sliding to her knees coming to a stop near her boss, "Oh no."

Tony Stark lay in front of her bleeding from countless frag wounds contained mostly to his chest and Nerissa quickly removed her shirt, leaving her in a tank top, and applied pressure to his chest to slow the bleeding, "Tony, it's going to be alright. Listen to me, stay with me, Tony. Stay with me."

"You look like hell, Riss," Tony coughed.

"Speak for yourself, Stark," she laughed dryly, "I'm not the one laying flat on my back."

"True," he said coughing up blood, "but I still look better."

"Sure, whatever you say, Tony," Nerissa said, "Just stay awake."

"If I don't make it tell Pepper I love her," Tony said softly.

"Stay alive and tell her yourself," Nerissa said struggling to keep her composure.

"Those aren't tears for you dear ole boss, are they?" Tony said weakly.

"No," Nerissa sniffed, "Of course not."

"Good, I wouldn't want to think you've gone soft," Tony whispered and then he fell silent, eyes closed.

"Dammit Tony!" she cursed, "Don't do this."

Behind her Nerissa heard the distinctive click of a gun hammer, she immediately froze.

"Stand!" a voice ordered in Arabic and Nerissa slowly followed that order, "Turn around slowly."

"We mean no harm," Nerissa replied easily slipping into Arabic.

"Silence!" the man barked, "You look familiar."

"I wouldn't know why," Nerissa replied still speaking in Arabic because it was clear the man spoke no English, "I have never been here before and my family is not well known."

"Your name." the man ordered.

"Ava," another man said from behind her.

Nerissa's heart stopped upon hearing the new voice, a voice she knew all too well from her days as Xavier's assassin, "Raza."

"Ah, so you do remember me," Raza smiled, "It has been far too long old friend."

"Not long enough," Nerissa spat, fixing him with a deadly glare.

Raza walked around her so she could look him in the eye and continued, "It seems we have come to an impasse. I want Stark and I know that you would never give up a bounty, Black Hand."

"What makes you think he's a bounty?" Nerissa asked pretending she didn't know anything, "I could be working private protection now."

"I know that Obadiah Stane hired you to kill Stark," Raza explained, "And I also know you well enough to know that it isn't your style to protect the money, you'd rather take it by force."

"You don't know anything about me!" Nerissa spat, fighting the urge to attack him but she knew that Stark was dead if she moved an inch so she played along, "What did Stane tell you?"

"Just that he had hired you to kill Stark," Raza replied and Nerissa breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't know her cover, "but you were taking too long and my dear I know all about you, remember. It was my father who made you."

"Your father didn't make anybody," Nerissa sneered, "He destroyed them and that is why Xavier sent me to kill him in the first place all those years ago."

"He what?!" Raza asked clearly surprised at the news.

"You mean you hadn't figured that out?" Nerissa asked innocently, "Oh Raz, you always boasted your intelligence. I thought you would have figured why I, an infamous assassin at the age of 13, would have trained at a mediocre training camp run by a mediocre killer."

"My father was a genius!" Raza scowled, "Much smarter than that fool Xavier!"

"Then how did I so easily kill him?" Nerissa taunted stalling for time hoping someone would find them and help her, "It was probably the easiest hit I ever completed. It was certainly the longest I ever spent on one but it took some time to gain Amir's trust."

"Silence!" Raza ordered striking her across the face, "Now are you going to step aside and let me have my target or not?"

"Never," Nerissa said wiping the blood from her lip, glaring up at him.

"Then I guess we'll have to do this the hard way," Raza said dangerously, "I'll just have to kill you to get to him."

"Go ahead and try," Nerissa dared him.

"Tsk, tsk. I really had been hoping it wouldn't come to this," Raza said, "but if you insist."

Without hesitation, Nerissa dropped into a roll and removed her daggers from her boot and launched herself at the man that had been holding a gun to her and quickly cut him down. Then, she leaped up and spun towards Raza.

"I see you've still got your strength and cunning skill in combat," Raza said, "but just like when we were kids, I still outsmarted you."

"How?" Nerissa asked not taking her eyes off of him, "I'd say we're pretty evenly matched now."

"You'll see," Raza said and before she could reply Nerissa screamed as a bullet tore through her shoulder and she collapsed to the ground, "Goodnight Ava."

Nerissa tried to pick herself up off the ground but a sharp pain shot through her head and everything went black.


	17. Chapter 17

"Wake up!" a voice ordered harshly, "Wake up!"

Nerissa slowly began to rouse and attempted to move but she hissed in pain when she tried to sit up, pain shooting through her skull and left shoulder.

"Where am I?" Nerissa barked mustering all of the energy she could trying to sound tough.

"You are home," Raza said coming out of the shadows, "Do you not remember this place?"

Looking around the gloomy cavernous room she was being held in she realized that she did, in fact, know where she was. She was back in a small cave system where she had spent some time training as a teen and it hadn't changed a bit, "I can't believe this place is still standing," she sneered, "I would've thought the Americans would have blown this place to bits by now."

"Honestly," Raza replied smoothly, "I don't think they care that we're here as long as we keep quiet and so far we have, but that will change soon."

"What are you planning?" Nerissa asked trying to ignore the burning pain in her shoulder.  
"I decided not to kill Stark," Raza said striding around the room, "I decided to put him to work."

"Doing what?" Nerissa asked knowing that she probably wouldn't like the answer.

"Once he recovers a bit more from his wounds Mr. Stark will be building us our very own Jericho Missile," Raza said.

"What makes you think he'll do that for you?" Nerissa asked eyeing Raza, looking for a weak spot she could easily attack in her injured state.

"Oh, he'll do it," Raza said, "Or I'll kill him."

"Why are you telling me your grand plan?" Nerissa asked, "Aren't you afraid I might do something to stop you?"

"Ha! You stop me?" Raza laughed, "You couldn't hurt a fly right now and you won't be in any shape to do anything but cry and beg for mercy here shortly, my dear Ava."

The tone of his voice made her blood run cold, "What do you plan to do with me?"

"You're going to have a nice little chat with my head interrogator," Raza said walking towards the door, "See what you can tell us about the US government because I know you know something."

"I don't know anything," Nerissa told him.

"Sure you do," Raza said, "You wouldn't have been able to hide from me this long if you weren't getting some kind of help from them."

"Why would the government help me?" Nerissa asked, "I was an assassin and killed countless government officials."

"Because," Raza said walking over and leaning to whisper into her ear, "I know it's your fault that Xavier is dead."

Nerissa's heart stopped. How could he possibly know that? Nobody who knew about that and who was involved was either dead, her family, or a government agent sworn to secrecy.

"Oh so you do know about that," Raza said seeing the look in her eye, "Do you want to save yourself the pain and tell me now?"

Nerissa's reply was to spit in his face, "Burn in hell!"

"Fine," he said wiping the spit from his face, "Have it your way. Jabez, you are up"

"Finally," a rough voice said coming out of the shadow's, "It is so good to see you again, Ava."

"Jabez," Nerissa was shocked, "You're alive?"

"No thanks to you," Jabez said, "You're the one who put the bullet in my chest."

"How?" Nerissa asked her mind spinning, she had never intended to kill Jabez but he had witnessed Amir's murder, he was a liability, and she had checked his pulse herself on her way out.

"I'm the one who asks the questions here," Jabez said picking up a wicked knife from his tool kit, "Now let's get started."

* * *

Six hours. Six long and excruciating hours later Jabez was done with his brutal interrogation and Nerissa was left alone to suffer and wait for him to return and return he did. He would come and ask the same questions over. and over. and over again, but she never once gave him an answer except for the occasional expletive. She was in turn rewarded with a new lash mark, knife wound, or burn, sometimes it was all three when he brought friends. For almost a month the cycle of questions and torture continued but Nerissa was no closer to telling them a thing. Despite the pain and torture she never once uttered a single word that might give them an idea as to what the American government was up to. Nerissa's one and only motivation, Ana. She knew that if she even gave them a hint as to the kind of life she had been leading the last few years they would hunt down her family and kill them and she couldn't let that happen, so she remained silent and Jabez continued his abuse.

* * *

 _ *****Tony's POV*****_

"Yinsen," Tony said, "Do you think Arissa is still alive?"

"I do," Yinsen replied not looking up from the fire he was tending, "I think that she is alive and well and looking for you."

"I don't know about looking for me," Tony laughed.

"From what you tell me she seemed to care for you," Yinsen said, "Maybe not in a romantic way but I almost guarantee that you were almost like family to her."

"What makes you say that?" Tony asked.

"She was disowned by her parents," Yinsen said, "You took her in, gave her a job, and have been kind to her, joked with her and watched out for her when noone else did."

"That's just being a kind human being," Tony argued, "Anyone would have done that."

"No," Yinsen said, "Most people would not."

"If she's hurt it's all my fault," Tony said hammering on a piece of metal trying to bend it into the shape he wanted.

"No, it isn't," Yinsen said.

"Yes, it is," Tony said slamming the metal down, "Pepper told me not to bring her here but what did I do? I brought her here!"

"Do not blame yourself, Stark," Yinsen said, "Blame the monsters who brought you here if she is hurt because I guarantee you it would be by their hand."

"You're probably right," Tony said, "Let's get back to work."


	18. Chapter 18

"She's going to die," Nerissa heard a voice say though she could not muster the energy open her eyes.

"She will be fine," another replied, "I assure you she can take more than you would think."

"Raza," the other voice said, "I am telling you that if we continue at this rate she _will_ die. I'm all for killing her but you will never get the information you desire if she dies."

"Fine," Raza barked, "Send her to the doctor's cell in one week but until then dial back the intensity but you _will_ continue to interrogate her."

"Aren't you worried that she will kill the other one?" the unidentified man asked.

"Ha! If she can muster the energy to I welcome her to try," Raza said and then Nerissa fell back into the pain-free land of unconsciousness.

* * *

Nerissa woke to a sharp pain searing through her back.

"Wake up!" Jabez barked snapping her once again with the whip, "Care to tell me anything?"

Nerissa opened her one eye that wasn't swollen and spat, "Never."

A sadistic smile spread across his face and he said, "Fine."

CRACK! Nerissa arched her back in renewed pain from the brutality of the whip but she did not scream out. She never screamed out from the first cut of the knife on that first day over a month ago Nerissa had never once given her jailers the satisfaction of hearing her scream in pain.

"Now?" Jabez asked.

"Never," Nerissa repeated and steeled herself for the next crack of the whip but it never came, instead she felt the burn of a hot piece of steel on her thigh, weak from the weeks of abuse she passed out.

* * *

Nerissa endured four more days of interrogation and there were two left until she was to be moved to the Doctor's cell for a reprieve from her tormentors but her body just couldn't take the abuse anymore and it finally gave out in the middle of an 'interrogation'.

"Raza!" Jabez yelled, "Get the doctor if you don't want to lose your meal ticket."

"Why?" Raza barked striding in, "What happened?"

"She stopped breathing."


	19. Chapter 19

*****Tony's POV*****

"Stand up! Hands in the air!" a voice called in Arabic through the slot in the door. Yinsen and Tony followed directions, standing with their hands in the air and Raza came walking in.

"Doctor," Raza said rushing in clearly irritated, "You're coming with me."

"What? Why?" Tony asked, "I told you I need him."

"Shut up!" Raza ordered, "Doctor you're coming with me. I'm in need of your services."

"Fine," Yinsen said walking slowly towards Raza his hands still held high and visible to all, "Do I need my medical kit?"

"Yes," Raza said hurriedly, "Let's go your patient is in dire need of attention."

"Okay," Yinsen said quickly grabbing his kit, "Let's go."

* * *

 *****Yinsen's POV*****

"Your patient is in here," Raza said shoving Yinsen into a room, "Everything you could possibly need to save her life is in this room."

"She's not breathing," Yinsen said quickly gathering all of the supplies from around the room he might need to get her heart started, "Do you have a source of electricity?"

"Better," Raza said gesturing to an AED, "We just stole this little machine from the American's the other day."

"Perfect," Yinsen said, "Now, could you please get out of my way?"

"Of course," Raza said backing away, "But I am not going anywhere."

Ignoring his comment Yinsen immediately began trying to get this girl's heart started. If Yinsen was surprised to see the state of this girl's body he did not show it, knowing that anyone that they would torture this bad and still want to save their life must be pretty important to him. If Stark wasn't there Yinsen probably would have let this girl die knowing that she wouldn't want to be brought back to this but if he didn't save her Raza would surely kill him and he had promised to help get Stark out of here. So, against his better judgment Yinsen got the girl's heart beating once again and after that, he immediately got to work cleaning, stitching and bandaging her plethora of wounds. After nearly two hours of nonstop work, Yinsen was finally done bandaging this girl.

"Finished," Yinsen said turning to Raza, "But if you want her to live any longer I suggest you relent on her punishment for a time. Otherwise, there will be no bringing her back."

"I know this," Raza said, "that is why she will be moved to your quarters immediately. So, you can care for her until she is better."

"And if I refuse to care for her further?" Yinsen asked.

"You will die in her place," Raza replied dangerously.

"Fine," Yinsen said defeated, "Move her to my quarters."

* * *

"Yinsen!" Tony said standing, "You're back. I was beginning to worry that they'd killed you."

"No," Yinsen said, "The girl they had me working on, she was in terrible shape."

"That's awful," Tony said.

"You're about to see how awful," Yinsen said.

"Stand! Hands up!" a voice barked through the door and both men complied.

"Where do you want her?" Raza asked carrying the girl Yinsen had worked so tirelessly to save.

"Over there," Yinsen said gesturing to the far side of the room and Raza moved to place her on the cot there, "Be careful or all my work will be for nothing."

Raza carefully placed the girl on the bed and walked out without saying a word, slamming the door on his way out.

"Come, Stark," Yinsen said from his place by the girl, "I need your help getting her into fresh clothes. You needn't worry about seeing her naked. Almost all of her upper body is covered in gauze."

"That bad?" Stark said walking over but stopped dead in his tracks when Yinsen slowly turned her face towards him, "Arissa."

"What?" Yinsen asked confused.

"That's my assistant," Tony said rushing over, "That's Arissa."

"This is the girl you spoke of?" Yinsen asked.

"Yes," Tony said gently rubbing a thumb across her bandaged hand, "Oh, Riss. What did they do to you?"

"They have tortured her, for information is my guess," Yinsen said slipping her arms through an oversized shirt.

"Why?" Tony asked not taking his eyes off of her, "She doesn't know anything important about my company. She's just a kid."

"They must have their reasons," Yinsen said, "but none that would make sense to us."

"I'm going to kill every last one of them for this," Tony said revenge sparking in his eyes, "Let's get to work we have some modifications to make to our little project.

* * *

Three weeks. That's how long Nerissa stayed in a coma. Three weeks. That's how long Tony Stark spent splitting his time between watching his assistant and modifying his 'project' that was not the Jericho missile he was supposed to be working on but Raza had yet to discover his actual plans.

"Riss?" Tony asked walking over to her bed when he heard a slight noise come from her direction. When he got to her side nothing appeared to have changed so he sat down for a moment and that was when he saw her eyelids flutter, "Riss come on. I know you can hear me. Wake up."

Her eyelids fluttered a little more, "Come on Arissa. You can do it."

Her eyelids shot open and she shot up but immediately fell back down agony searing through her.

"Riss, relax," Tony said softly, "You're alright."

"I'm still captive aren't I?" she asked quietly tears pricking her eyes.

"Yeah," Tony said sadly, "But I'm working on a plan."

"Tony, listen to me," Nerissa cried softly, "If they know I've woken up they will drag me back to that room. I can't go back there." Tears streamed down her face, "I won't make it out alive if I do. They can _not_ know I'm awake."

"Okay, Riss," Tony said trying to calm her, "I won't let them know. I promise."

"They also can't know that we know each other," she said.

"I think they already do," Tony said.

"No," Nerissa said her eyes growing heavy, "They don't. Keep it that way."

"Okay," Tony promised, "Rest. I'll be here when you wake."

"I'm scared Tony," Nerissa said tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Me too, Red, me too,"


	20. Chapter 20

Tony worked on his escape plan for two more weeks before it was finally finished but he still couldn't enact it because Arissa still wasn't healed enough to escape or at least Yinsen said she wasn't.

"I'm telling you I feel fine," Nerissa insisted from her place on the cot.

"You are not by any means fine," Yinsen said without looking at her, "You can try to fool Tony but you cannot fool me. I'm the one that bandaged you up, remember?"

Nerissa huffed and crossed her arms, thankful that her bed was in the blind spot of all the cameras, "I'm far more resilient that you give me credit for."

"I have no doubt that you are resilient considering that you are alive right now," Yinsen replied, "However, you were severely abused and nearly died because of it, so there will be no chances taken where your health is concerned."

Tony saw that she was about to argue further and cut her off, "He's right Riss. I will not take any more chances than I already am with this escape plan. I can not risk you getting hurt again because of me."

Nerissa wanted to argue that Raza hadn't tortured her because of him but since that would bring up a whole new round of questions that she wasn't prepared to answer she stayed silent for a moment then said, "What is your brilliant plan of yours anyway?"

"You will just have to wait and see," Tony said cryptically.

"Whatever," Nerissa huffed and rolled over on her cot but when she did her momentum carried her off of it and she landed on the ground with a thud.

"Riss!" Tony said rushing over, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she groaned holding her side.

"Let me check you over first before for we move you," Yinsen said kneeling down beside her.

"No," Nerissa said, "I'm fine. I can get up myself."

"I do not recommend that," Yinsen said crossing his arms.

"I am fine," Nerissa huffed attempting to drag herself back up using the side of the cot, but the second she was somewhat vertical she crashed back to the ground clutching her ribs and stomach, groaning quietly in pain.

"I told you," Yinsen said, "Now let me check you over. That should not have hurt like it did."

Yinsen proceeded to prod Nerissa's ribs and stomach gently checking for any swelling, inflammation, and tenderness.

"Does this hurt?" Yinsen asked poking her right on a rib.

Drawing in a sharp breath in pain Nerissa replied, "Yes! It hurts!"  
"I thought it might," Yinsen said.

"Then why did you do that!?" Nerissa asked clearly frustrated.

"I had to make sure," Yinsen said prodding a few more areas and checking her for any reopened wounds, "I think you refractured one of your ribs."

"Great," Nerissa groaned, "Now, get me up."  
"Of course," Yinsen said, "Tony will you please lift her back up gently."  
"Yeah," Tony said picking her up like a groom would his bride and placing her gently back on the cot, "There."

"Thank you, Tony," Nerissa said, "I'm going to take a nap."

"That is the best thing for you," Yinsen said, "Rest and when you awake there will be food most likely."

Just as Nerissa got settled and closed her eyes a voice banged at the door and yelled with the usual orders. Yinsen and Tony both quickly complied and Nerissa's heart stopped for a moment, afraid that this may be the time they see through her fake coma act that she had been putting up every time they came in and she was somewhat conscious.

"What happened?" Raza asked walking into the room.

"What do you mean?" Yinsen asked.

"My men said that you and Stark rushed over to her bed," Raza said gesturing to Nerissa, "They thought she may have awoken."

"No," Yinsen lied, "She had a seizure. It's the third one in two days."

"I see," Raza said walking over to look at her closer, "Do you think she will ever wake up?"

"With time," Yinsen replied, "Her body underwent significant trauma. It will take time before her mind feels it is safe to wake up."

"I want to know the moment she wakes," Raza ordered.

"Of course," Yinsen said and then Raza walked out of the room and his men filed after him, slamming the door shut and locking it tightly behind them. It was another few moments before Nerissa's eyes flew open and she began to sob.

"I thought they knew," she cried, "I hate it when they come in here."

"I know you do," Tony said rubbing her shoulder gently, "I'm sorry we shouldn't have rushed over here as fast as we did."

"We must be more careful with our reactions," Yinsen said, "If they had been in here a moment sooner… all would be lost."

"Two more weeks, Riss," Tony said, "Two more weeks."

* * *

Turns out Nerissa was somewhat ready to go in only one week, despite her cracked rib, and finally the plan to escape was ready to be enacted.

"Come on, Riss," Tony said hurriedly, "Get in the suit."

Eyeing the bulky metal 'suit' of armor that Stark had built from scrap metal and attached weapons to she shook her head, "No, that's not how I'm gonna die."

"You won't die," Tony said, "I modified it so that it could hold two people and it is perfectly safe. It's our ticket out of here."

"I'm not getting in that," she said, "You fight your way out of here in it. I'll be right behind you."

"You can't fight," Tony argued, "You'll be killed."

"I can fight," Nerissa said a gleam in her eye, "Just clear a path ahead of me and I'll get anyone behind us."

"Yinsen," Tony said, "Reason with her would you."

"Arissa," Yinsen said, "I must agree with Stark. You don't exactly strike me as the fighting type."

"You really don't recognize me do you?" Nerissa asked Yinsen.

"What do you mean?" Yinsen asked confused and Tony looked on confused as well from his position in the suit that was booting up.

"We've met before," Nerissa admitted, "It was a long time ago and I was a lot younger then and going by a different name."

"It can not be," Yinsen said recognition flooding his face, "Ava, I had heard you had died."

"No, I just changed," Nerissa said, "I found someone and they changed me."

"You do not follow Xavier anymore?" Yinsen asked.

"He's dead," Nerissa said, "I changed my name and gave up my old life."

"I'm glad that you did," Yinsen said, "I knew you had the potential to be something better."

"Thank you," Nerissa said, "We should hurry before they notice."

"I agree," Yinsen said walking over to check on the status of the suit's boot up.

"Wait!" Tony said, "Anyone want to tell me what's going on?"

"I will later," Nerissa said wrapping extra gauze around her fresher wounds to give them a little extra padding, "I promise but right now we must focus on the task at hand."

"You can't just say stuff like that and not explain anything to me," Tony said.

"I will later," Nerissa said and she turned quickly when she heard approaching footsteps, "Oh no."

"We're out of time," Yinsen said as a man started yelling at the door trying to open it, "They've noticed something is up."

The bomb that they had rigged to explode if anyone opened the door then exploded and Nerissa got up, "I guess I will stall for time."

"No!" Yinsen ordered, "You stay here and watch the computer. I will buy you some time."

"Okay," Nerissa said seeing the determination in his eyes, "Be careful."

"I always am," Yinsen said and then ran out the door. He lifted the gun from the body of the guard and then ran down the hall firing the weapon.

"There's only a minute left on the bootup," Tony said, "Arissa get in the suit."

"No," she said, "Follow my plan. Clear a path ahead of me, I'll cover you. I promise you I know what I'm doing."

Then the suit booted up and there was no room for argument, it was time to make an escape.


	21. Chapter 21

Stark didn't like Nerissa's plan but since Yinsen had disappeared and his assistant would not cooperate he resolved to at least reduce the likelihood that she would be hurt any further. So, he moved out of the cave that had been his cell for the last three months and opened fire on anyone who came his way, firing with the guns that he had built into the arms of the suit.

"Arissa?" Stark asked without turning around, "You doing okay?"

"Fine!" she replied with a grunt, "Keep going! I've got these guys under control!"

"What?!" Stark asked turning to find her locked in hand to hand combat with several men who were trying their best to swipe at her with their daggers. What surprised him most was not that she was fighting well for the weakened state she was in but that she was easily fighting these men at all. He watched in amazement as she quickly disposed of one man with a quick blow to his groin and then to the skull. Then she proceeded to dispatch of the second with a jab to the gut and threw him into the wall, but the third was not so easily defeated. The third man was the largest and he had gotten in several good blows of his own before Nerissa kneed him in the gut and then flipped herself over him and drug him to the ground with her momentum and finished him off with a shot to the head with his own weapon.

"What?" Nerissa asked looking up at him, "Let's get a move on."

"Are you okay?" Tony asked spotting a small bloom of blood on her shirt.

"I'm fine," she insisted, "I'll be better when we're out of here."

The two of them continued like that until they reached the entrance of the cave there they found Yinsen laying in a pile of garbage.

"Yinsen!" Nerissa yelled moving towards him but was forced to duck behind Tony's suit for cover when a gunshot rang out.

"Raza," Nerissa said coming out from behind Stark.

"I suspected that these two had been lying to me," Raza said unsurprised to see her moving around so easily, "But I could not prove it."

"Guess you're not as smart as you thought you were," Nerissa sneered.

"I guess I should have killed you when I had the chance, my dear Ava," Raza said raising his gun, "But I will not make the same mistake twice."

Nerissa's eyes widened but as Raza fired Tony pushed her behind him and fired a mini-missile at Raza that caused a small portion of the cave to fall onto him.

Finding the path clear Nerissa ran over to Yinsen and moved several bags off of him, only to find he had been shot.

"Yinsen," Nerissa said, "Everything's going to be alright. We're going to get you out of here."

"No," Yinsen said gasping for breath, "I'm not going to leave this wretched cave."

"Come on, Yinsen," Tony said, "We're getting you out of here so you can see your family."

"My family is dead," Yinsen rasped, "I'm going to see them now."

As Yinsen took his final breath Nerissa whispered, "I'm sorry old friend."

"Let's go, Riss," Tony said closing the mask on his suit determination in his voice, "We're bustin' out of here."

* * *

Moments later Tony and Nerissa stepped out of the gloomy cave and into the sunlight for the first time in months and left them both blinking for a moment before their eyes adjusted and they saw the sea of men laid out before them, all armed.  
"Oh shit," Nerissa said.

"It's alright," Tony said raising his arms, "I'll clear a path. You get to that jeep on the far side of the camp."

"There's no way I'll make it," Nerissa said.

"Yes you will," Tony said then he opened fire on the small army before him, literally. In addition to the guns built into his suit, Tony had built flamethrowers into his mechanical suit of armor. After a few moments a significant number of them men had been torched, fled or taken cover and opened fire on them, so Nerissa started running. She ran straight through the center of all the chaos sliding behind cover occasionally or being forced to engage in combat with an enemy soldier. Within minutes she was feet away from the jeep but a man came out of nowhere and tackled her to the ground. Nerissa recovered quickly by kicking him in the head but that did not knock him out. They both managed to climb to their feet and proceeded to launch themselves at each other locking into combat, Nerissa managed to get the upper hand and had the man in a headlock but a knife appeared in the man's hands and he managed to contort his body enough to slip it between her ribs. Nerissa screamed out in pain and released the man from the choke hold, pushing him away from her and he fell away leaving the knife stuck in her. Clutching her abdomen she yanked the knife out from between her ribs, the man had a devilish grin on his face but she silenced it when she spun the knife and threw it, lodging it square in his chest. Nerissa didn't even wait to watch his body slump to the ground before she turned and trudged to the jeep a few feet away and climbed into the driver's seat.

"Nerissa!" Tony yelled stomping over to where she was.

"Tony!" she yelled back still clutching her abdomen, "Go! I'll follow the best I can!"

"You're bleeding!" Tony said.

"Go! I'll be right behind you!" she ordered starting up the jeep. Tony closed the mask on the suit and then powered up the mechanics on the suit that would take him airborne and let him fly out of the camp. As Tony went airborne, Nerissa gunned the engine on the jeep and sped out of the camp. Free at last.


	22. Chapter 22

Nerissa followed Tony as best as she could but she began to waver in her ability to follow him because of the amount of blood she was losing from her stab wound, in addition to the blood she was losing from reopened wounds. However, she didn't have to follow him very much longer because the suit lost power and plummeted to the ground a mile ahead of her.

"Tony!" Nerissa screamed futilely and gunned the engine, speeding towards the crash. A minute later she screeched to a halt a few feet from the wreckage relieved to see Tony was fine.

She struggled out of the jeep but the second her feet hit the ground her knees buckled and she collapsed in heap.

"Riss!" Tony struggled out of the wreckage of his suit and sprinted to her. Upon reaching her he pulled her into his arms and at the same time applied pressure to her abdomen, "Riss hold on."

"You okay?" she asked weakly.

"Fine," Tony said lifting her, "We're gonna get out of here."

Tony lifted her into the back of the jeep and loosely covered her with a tarp that was in the back, protecting her from the scorching sun. Then, he rushed around to the driver's seat and hopped in speeding away in search of civilization.

* * *

They never found civilization. The jeep ran out of gas within a half an hour. Tony beat his fists against the wheel, cursing madly at their awful luck.

"Riss? Rissa?" Tony asked turning around, "How are you doing?"

"Just peachy," she said weakly, "Never been better."

"I can see that," Tony said, "Don't worry we'll find help."

"Tony," Nerissa said softly, "If I die out here… If I die out here I want you to make it home. Go home but don't trust anyone."

"What are you talking about?" Tony asked, confused.

"I was hired by an anonymous party who had intel that your life was in danger," she coughed fudging some details of why she had been hired, "They're probably the reason you were taken captive by Raza. To eliminate you."

"Why would someone do that?" Tony asked.

"I don't know, but don't trust anyone," Nerissa whispered then fell unconscious.

"Riss!" Tony yelled climbing into the back with her to check her pulse. It was weak and thready but it was there. Tony knew he couldn't let her die in that desert so he began constructing a fire out of the garbage in the jeep, in hopes that someone would see the smoke and save them. Hours passed and Nerissa's heartbeat grew weaker and weaker and Tony began to lose hope but then he heard the distinctive drone of a helicopter. He leaped up and began turning circles, looking to the sky searching for the chopper. Finally, it came into view and he waved his arms frantically trying to get its attention but he thought it hadn't seen him when in passed over them. Then, it turned around and landed a short distance from Jeep, relief flooded him when he saw who got out of the chopper.

"Rhodie!" Tony called as Rhodie ran from the chopper.

"Next time," Rhodie said hugging him, "You ride with me in the Bumvee."

"Gladly," Tony said, "Arissa's hurt. Badly, she's not waking up. She was tortured.

"Get the medic over here!" Rhodie yelled pulling the cover off of Nerissa. Seeing the damage to her arms, legs, and face, not to mention the blood blooming on her shirt and pooling next to her, from the stab wound. Rhodie was stunned, "Damn. I haven't seen this much damage to one person in years."

"They tortured her for weeks," Tony said, "They nearly killed her."

"We'll get her to the base. There's a full team of medics there who will get her stabilized so she can make the flight home to a real hospital for more extensive care." Rhodie said pulling Stark towards the chopper so that the medics could get to Riss.

"I'm staying with her," Tony told him, "This is my fault. I'm not going to leave her side."

"You need some medical attention yourself," Rhodie said looking Stark up and down, "You're probably severely dehydrated."

"Whatever," Tony said, "As long as I never leave her."

"Deal," Rhodie said watching Nerissa get loaded into the chopper, "Let's move! She needs immediate attention!"


	23. Chapter 23

Nerissa woke up three days later in a hospital back in California and was surprised to see the man reading a magazine next to her bed.

"Fornell?" Nerissa asked weakly, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you," Fornell replied, tossing his magazine to the side, "I had to see for myself that you were really alive."

"Where am I?" Nerissa asked.

"You're at Eastview Hospital in California," Fornell said, "You've been through a lot."

"I'm aware," she said trying to sit up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Fornell said keeping her from sitting up, "Stay down. You're in no shape to be sitting up like that."

"I'm fine," Nerissa lied.

"Like hell you are," Fornell said, "One fresh stab wound to the abdomen, dozens of lash marks on your back, several cuts and abrasions all over your body, countless burns of various sizes and numerous other injuries to your body."

"You don't need to remind me, Fornell," Nerissa said, "Did you come here to blow my cover or what?"

"No, actually," Fornell said clearing his throat, "I came to tell you that when you get released from the hospital you can go home."

"What?" Nerissa was stunned.

"Your four months are up," Fornell said, "You're free to go home."

"No," Nerissa said with a finality that surprised Fornell.

"Are you sure?" Fornell asked, "I thought you'd be chomping at the bit to go home."

"I can not let my daughter see me like this," Nerissa said, "I'm staying until I've healed some and Obadiah Stane is either dead or behind bars."

"Stane?" Fornell asked, "You still want to finish this?"

"Yes," Nerissa said, "He's the reason that Tony and I were kidnapped by the Ten Rings."

"We knew that terrorist group was who took you and Stark," Fornell said shocked at her admission, "but we never thought that Stane would have hired them."

"He did," Nerissa said, "The leader of the Ten Rings told me as much himself."

"Raza?" Fornell said surprised, "You spoke to the leader of the Ten Rings?"

"I knew Raza from my days as Xavier's 8th assassin," Nerissa said, "I killed his father so he had a score to settle with me. That's why he tortured me."

"Oh Riss," Fornell said, "If I had known that this was going to happen I never would have asked you to take this case."

Before Nerissa could answer Tony walked into the room and the second he saw Fornell he froze, "I thought I told you people that no-one was allowed to see her!" Tony said, "Get out! She has to rest, not answer questions the same questions that you've already asked me."

"My apologies, Mr. Stark," Fornell said stepping out, "Goodbye, Ms. Winters."

"The nerve of some people," Tony huffed dramatically, "I'm sorry, Riss. I told all of these damn suits to leave you alone. They've just been asking the same questions and you don't need to relive what happened to you in that hell hole."

"It's okay Tony," Nerissa said, touched that he was that worried about her, "I can handle a bunch of suits and he really wasn't bothering me."

"I know you can handle yourself," Tony sighed dropping into the chair next to her bed, "So, how are you feeling?"

"I've certainly felt better," Nerissa told him, "but I'm glad to be out of that godforsaken desert."

"I can't say that I blame you," Tony replied laughing a bit, "I'm pretty relieved to be out of it myself and I didn't go through half the things you did."

Nerissa didn't reply and Tony noticed that her mood had suddenly changed, "Riss you okay?"

"Yes," Nerissa said visibly upset, "I mean no. You're being so kind to me and I've lied to you."

"You're talking about the conversation you had with Yinsen, aren't you?" Tony whispered remembering the odd conversation the two had had right before they made their escape.

"Yes," Nerissa said, "I haven't been completely honest with you about my past. I'm not from Illinois and my parents aren't rich and there are so many other things that aren't true about me."

"I kind of figured that out," Tony said, "but that doesn't change the fact that you've become the best friend I've ever had, not counting Pepper."

"I don't deserve your kindness, Tony!" Nerissa snapped, but that sent a wave of pain rippling through her body so she continued softer, "I've done some horrible things in my life and I finally paid for them in that compound. Raza made sure of that…"

"Hey," Tony said getting her attention, "Nothing you could have possibly done in your life could ever justify the things they did to you, especially since they didn't know you."

"But they did know me," Nerissa admitted sadly, "Quite well in fact. I was friends with Raza for a short time when I was about 13."

"How?" Tony asked quite confused how his sweet secretary could have known a monster like Raza.

"His father was a well-known and feared trainer of men who wanted to get into terrorism. My father, if you could even call him that, who was an infamous man himself because of the assassins he trained and let loose on the world, sent me to kill Raza's father, Amir. I knew going in that it wasn't going to be easy but what I didn't expect was that I would become such fast friends with his teen son Raza," Nerissa paused to compose herself and take a deep breath, "I lied my way into Amir's inner circle and quickly became his prized pupil. I spent months plotting how I would kill him and escape without being discovered. I had the perfect plan and I would have made it out cleanly if Jabez, Amir's right-hand man, hadn't come in just after I had killed Amir. We fought and I thought that I had killed Jabez and I quickly made my exit but Raza ran into me as I was fleeing and he saw the blood on my hands and clothes and the fear in my eyes and quickly put two and two together. The two of us fought and he injured me and I injured him, we didn't see each other again until that first day in the desert."

"Riss," Tony said quietly, taking in what she had just told him.

"No, don't say anything," Nerissa said, "It's okay if you hate me. You can fire me and never think about me again."

Tony was shocked at this change in his young assistant. She had gone from a spunky redheaded spitfire with the world at her fingers to this defeated and depressed little girl, "Riss I could never _ever_ hate you. You say you've done all these awful things but I can see that you're not that person anymore. You've changed so much in the last few months alone."

"But I've killed so many people," Nerissa said defeated, "I've destroyed so many families."

"Riss, do you still want to hurt people?" Tony asked her looking her in the eyes.  
"No," she replied, "I've left that behind me. I am not Xavier's slave anymore."

"Then you're not that monster anymore," Tony insisted, "They called you Ava, right?"

Nerissa nodded in response, "Is that what you go by still?"  
"No," Nerissa shook her head, "I haven't gone by that in about 4 years. It wasn't even my name, more like a nickname. Xavier didn't give us names he gave us numbers and I was Eight. The others that I grew up with dubbed me Ava as soon as I could walk. We all had names that were similar to our designated numbers."

Tony's mind was blown by how cold this man had been, "You were given numbers! What's next, you're going to tell me you weren't even his children?"

"Actually we weren't," Nerissa said, "Each of us had been taken from our birth parents at a few months old. Xavier raised all of us and trained us to be cold- blooded killers."

"Oh my god," Tony stood and began pacing back and forth, "He was a monster! What kind of person does that!? Taking children from their parents and giving them numbers instead of names! How many were there?"

"Twelve," Nerissa said softly, "When I left the youngest, Twilla, was 10 and the oldest, One, was 26."

Tony's mind was blown at how a man could kidnap twelve innocent children and not even bother to give them names, "I thought you said everyone had names similar to their numbers?"

"There were two who didn't, One and Four. One was the eldest, and the most experienced, and she didn't want a name. She insisted upon being called by her number and we obliged because she was the oldest child. She was left in charge when Xavier was gone and it was her who organized all of our contract assignments." Nerissa explained, "Four, well, Four's name just kind of fit him. He was the fourth child, the fourth shortest, the fourth best out of all of us and eventually the fourth to die."

"What happened to him?" Tony asked sensing her sadness at the last part.

"He was caught," Nerissa said simply, "and when that happens you don't leave alive. We were each given a cyanide pill before each mission, in case we were caught and there was no chance of escape. Xavier couldn't risk one of us cracking under pressure and exposing the others."

"That's awful," Tony said, "How did he get caught?"

"He took a round to the knee and a round to the shoulder," Nerissa said misty eyed, "The FBI was closing in on him and there was no way he was getting out. So, he… he took the pill."

"Did you love him?" Tony asked touching her arm lightly.

"As a brother, yes," Nerissa said, "He trained me and taught me how to survive out there. He's the reason I'm alive today."

"That must have sucked," Tony said sympathetically, "Losing your brother like that."

"It did and his death is what got me thinking about running away," Nerissa admitted, "But it took me three more years and dozens more completed hits before I finally got the chance to escape."

"How did you escape?" Tony asked trying to keep her talking about this, knowing that this was probably the first time she'd ever told anyone about her life before.

"It's a really long story," Nerissa answered, avoiding that since she couldn't talk about her escape from Xavier without talking about her family in Miami, "I'm really tired and don't feel like talking about that right now."

"One more question," Tony said knowing full well she wasn't actually tired, "You said that Four was the fourth best out of all of you. Who were the other three ahead of him?"

"It was Four, Finn, Sven, and then me," Nerissa said, "Which when I say the best, it's more like who was the deadliest. Four was better at spying than me, and Finn was better at hand to hand than me and Sven… well, Sven was a better person than me but I had the most confirmed kills out of us all."

"How many?" Tony asked.

"From the time I was six years old to the day I turned 18," Nerissa said taking a deep breath, or at least as deep of one she could take with her chest and abdomen all taped up, "I had over 322 confirmed contracted kills and that's not counting the collateral and unconfirmed deaths. If you counted those… well, it's innumerable."

"Did you enjoy killing them?" Tony asked solemnly.

"No!" Nerissa said appalled he would even ask such a thing, "While most of them deserved what they got… I never _ever_ enjoyed killing those people."

"Then you're not the monster of this story," Tony said holding her hand companionably, "You're the hero. You may have done awful things but you overcame the darkness holding you down and ultimately became a better person. You are _not_ a monster."

"Somedays it sure doesn't feel like it," Nerissa said softly, "but I appreciate you trying to cheer me up. It's nice to see some people are still human these days."

"Just keep being you, Riss," Tony assured her, "and the world will already be a better place."


	24. Chapter 24

Much to her doctor's surprise, Nerissa was out of the hospital in just a few short days. Nerissa was healing much faster than anticipated by any of the medical staff at Eastview Hospital and was released with orders to take it easy, not lift any heavy objects, and to drink lots of water since she was still mildly dehydrated and severely underweight but that was to be expected.

"Tony?" Nerissa asked realizing something as she was signing her final discharge papers, "Is my apartment still mine?"

"You mean that little apartment over in the Estates complex?" Tony asked turning around from the window.

"Yes," Nerissa replied, "And it's not that little."

"It's pretty little by my standards," Tony said walking over, "And it is still yours but I was thinking you should stay with me for a while."

"What?" Nerissa asked shocked at her boss's offer, "I couldn't possibly…"  
"Yes you could," Tony insisted, "You're recovering from a pretty serious trauma and the doctors agreed that you should be monitored at all times."

Nerissa rolled her eyes and huffed, "I'm fine Stark. I've gone through much worse things and look at me now."

"I am looking at you now," Tony replied, "and I don't like what I see. You are beaten up, half-starved and terrified."

"Only two of those are true," Nerissa said daring him to disagree.

"No they're all three true," Tony replied, "You are scared out of your mind and I know that you've been having nightmares."

Nerissa was surprised that her boss knew that. Tony never stayed at the hospital past 10:30 p.m. and she didn't even fall asleep until midnight. Then, it hit her, "The doctors have cameras in here don't they."

Tony knew the jig was up, "Yes, they do. That's standard for patients who have been tortured and abused as much as you but they can't put you on a psych hold because the isolation would be worse for you."

"I don't believe this," Nerissa growled, "Take me home now."

"I don't think that's the best idea, Riss," Tony said calmly.

"I don't care what you think," Nerissa sneered, "Take me home."

Tony sighed upset that he'd just lost a whole lot of trust points in her book, "Fine."

After making the short drive to the Estates Apartment Complex, Tony dropped Nerissa off at the front door at her insistence.

"Riss," Tony called through the window, "Call me if you need anything. I don't care what time it is. You call, got it?"

"Got it," Nerissa said trying to speed along his departure, "Bye Tony, see you at work tomorrow."

"I don't want to see you at Stark Industries for at least another two days," Tony ordered, "That doesn't mean you can't come to my house if you feel too lonely, though."

"Whatever," Nerissa huffed and strode into the Estates complex for the first time in three months.

"Well that was quite the overnight trip you took, Arissa," Henry joked as she came in, "I missed you.

"It certainly took a lot longer than I expected," Nerissa said lightly, "I missed you too."

"Come here," Henry said opening his arms for a hug, "I know you need one."

Nerissa got a little misty eyed at the gesture and accepted her friend's hug, "Thanks, Henry. I needed that."  
"You're quite welcome, Arissa," Henry smiled kindly, "I heard you've been through a lot and I just want you to know that I'm here if you need me. If you need to talk I can listen. If you need something to cry on I've got pretty nice shoulder but if you just need some company so that you're not alone I can be as quiet as a mouse."

"Thank you, Henry," Nerissa replied, "I just want to go take a nice long shower. Get some of this sand out of my ears."

"Off you go then," Henry said, "I'm glad you're back, Arissa."

"Thanks, Henry," she replied and walked towards the hallway that would take her to her not-so-humble abode.

As she stepped in the door of her apartment Nerissa felt the odd loneliness that filled the space before her. It was as if her home had mourned her absence and had to yet notice she was home. It was very eerie seeing everything that she had left lying around the morning she left for Afghanistan. A book left open patiently waiting for its owner's return, a sudoku puzzle left unfinished, the microwave standing open from when she had rushed out the morning she left, and a pile of dirty laundry that had never gotten done. Seeing the dishevelment of her apartment Nerissa decided that her first order of business was not taking a shower but rather returning some semblance of order to her apartment. For the next two hours, she worked on cleaning and organizing her temporary home, carefully avoiding all of the mirrors and reflective surfaces in her home dreading the first time she'd see herself since her return. She also took great care not to pull any stitches or open any scabs so she only did light cleaning and not anything too strenuous. When her apartment was nearly clean and she was almost ready to shower when a knock came at her door and made her jump in surprise.

"Arissa!" a voice called through the door, "It's Henry."

Nerissa opened the door with a smile, "Hey Henry! What can I do for you."

"I brought lunch," He replied holding up two large fruit smoothie cups from a family owned place around the corner, "I didn't figure you'd really be hungry enough to eat real food so I figured you'd at least like a nutritious drink."

Nerissa accepted the smoothie from her friend and gestured for him to come in, "Thanks, Henry. Did Stark put you up to this?"

"No, not at all," Henry said shaking his head, "Tony did tell me you wouldn't likely be very hungry and wouldn't want to restock your refrigerator but he didn't tell me I had to bring my friend a smoothie."

"I'm sorry if I seem a bit crabby," Nerissa apologized taking a sip of her drink, "I just don't want people to baby me. Yes, I was hurt but that doesn't mean I'm broken."

"Nobody thinks you're broken, Arissa," Henry replied sitting across the table from her, "We just want to make sure that you're taken care of."

Nerissa gave a small smile, "How much do you know?'

"Enough," Henry's eyes darkened, "I know that you were tortured and that you really need to eat right now."

Nerissa sighed, "I have a deal for you. If you promise not to hover over me like a mother hen, I will agree to share my lunch time with you but you have to trust me with my other two meals."

"Agreed," Henry said sensing that even this small compromise went against every fiber of her being and that little voice in her head that was telling her not to trust anyone, "I'll call the grocery service for you. Get the basics delivered and I'll bring them to you when they arrive."

"Thank you, Henry," Nerissa said, "You really are a good friend."


	25. Chapter 25

After finishing all of her smoothie Nerissa decided that it was time to take a shower and face her reflection. She rose from her seat in the kitchen and slowly walked to her master bath. She avoided the mirrors for the time being resolving to take a shower and get cleaned up first. Nerissa undressed, making sure to cover her stitches properly, and stepped into her shower savoring the first hot shower, really the first shower period, she'd had in months. She took her time washing her hair, using over half of the bottle of conditioner she had on hand trying to work out the worst of the tangles in her hair and then used a soft rag to wash the rest of her body minding the stitches and scabs careful not to snag any of them. After spending almost an hour in the shower and using almost all of the hot water she stepped out and began drying off then got dressed, still avoiding the mirrors in the bathroom, grateful that they had fogged up while she was in the shower. Then she began the tedious process of combing out three months worth of tangles before she got halfway through combing her arms were so tired she couldn't finish.

"What is wrong with me?" Nerissa wondered aloud to herself, "I used to be able to do a hundred pushups after being hurt like this and now I can't even comb my own hair."

"It's called being human," a voice said from behind her.

Nerissa spun around frightened, snatching the pistol off of her bedside table and leveling it at the intruder, but she froze, "Dad?"

"Hey Riss," Horatio greeted from her bedroom door.

"What are you doing here?" Nerissa asked still shocked to see him standing here, "You could blow my cover!"

"I have a cover of my own," Horatio said remaining by the door, sensing she wasn't ready to be close to him yet, "Fornell set me up with one so that I could come and see you for a day or two."

"What's your cover?" Nerissa asked placing her gun back on the bedside table.

"I'm a United States Marshall sent to keep an eye on you for a few days while they launch the initial investigation upon the Ten Rings," Horatio replied pulling out his falsified credentials, "My name is Harry Carrigan."

"Well it's nice to meet you, Harry," Nerissa replied giving a small smile.

Horatio walked into the room and pulled his daughter into a gentle hug, tears forming in his eyes, "I thought you were gone. I was so afraid I'd lost you again."

"I thought about you and Ana and the team every day," Nerissa sobbed quietly into her father's shoulder, "You and Ana were my motivation to not let those bastards kill me."

"You did it Rissa," Horatio said softly, "You made it back to me."

"Only part of me did," Nerissa said still crying.

"Then the part that matters most made it back," Horatio said stroking her damp hair, "I love you, Nerissa Anne. I don't know what I would have done if you had really died out there."

"You would have raised Ana," Nerissa said pulling away and wiping the tears from her cheeks, "You and the team."

"It wouldn't have been the same without you," Horatio said picking up the brush she had dropped and began brushing in gentle strokes, "I haven't brushed your hair in a very long time."

"Not since Speedle died," Nerissa said remembering that day vividly.

"You still miss him?" Horatio asked already knowing the answer.

"Every day," Nerissa said her eyelids drooping with exhaustion, "Him and Tyler both."

"I know you do, kiddo," Horatio said setting down the brush, and quickly braided it, "Go ahead and sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up."

Nerissa didn't reply but she laid down on top of the blankets and fell asleep. Horatio watched her sleep for a few minutes before he wandered out into the living room, grabbed one of the throw blankets from the couch and returned to Nerissa's room and carefully placed the blanket over her. With nothing else to do until she woke up Horatio decided to explore the place that had become Nerissa's temporary home while she was on this mission and he quickly became amazed at how well the FBI had taken care of his daughter on this mission, with the exception of losing her in that desert. He became worried that she would fall in love with this life and decide to run from him and their family to escape the feeling that she had let them down.

* * *

About an hour later Horatio was sitting in the living room of his daughter's lavish apartment when he heard a scream that chilled him to the bone. He quickly leaped to his feet and drew his weapon on instinct but quickly realized that it had come from Nerissa's room. He put his gun back in the holster and rushed to Nerissa's room and when he opened the door immediately he saw she was trapped in the midst of a nightmare.

"Nerissa," Horatio said touching his daughter's shoulder gently not wanting to startle her awake, "Nerissa it's Dad. You're safe Riss, wake up. Come on baby girl wake up."

After trying to coax her awake for two minutes Nerissa finally woke up with a start, swinging her arm at Horatio but he caught it, "Nerissa it's me."

"Dad?" Nerissa said her eyes still wide with fear.

"That's right baby girl," Horatio whispered, "I'm right here."

"Dad," Nerissa said burying her face in her dad's shoulder.

"You wanna talk about it?" Horatio asked trying to coax his daughter into talking about it.

"No," Nerissa said shaking violently, "I'm not ready to… to… talk about that… that place."

"Okay," Horatio replied not wanting to push her, "How about we go watch a movie?"

"I don't have any movies," Nerissa replied sitting up straighter.

"You have TV," Horatio said standing up, "I'm sure we can find something."

"Alright," Nerissa said allowing herself to be led to the living room and curled up next to her dad on the couch. Horatio was careful not to pick something that was too violent or would stir up any bad memories so he settled on Finding Nemo. He figured that even though it was a kids movie, it was a movie that Ana enjoyed so it might be good for Nerissa to watch. Nerissa didn't say anything about the selection but managed to stay awake throughout the entire movie and when it was over she stood carefully, her wounds still extremely tender and her body ached.

"I'm going to call, Henry," Nerissa told her dad, "See if the groceries he ordered for me arrived yet."

"Who's Henry?" Horatio asked his interest piqued at the mention of an unknown male.

"The front desk manager," Nerissa replied picking up the phone and dialing the front desk.

" _Front desk. Henry speaking," Henry said answering the phone._

" _Hey, Henry," Nerissa greeted, "It's Arissa. I was wondering if those groceries had been delivered yet?"_

" _They actually just came in," Henry said, "I'll bring them to you in just a few minutes."_

" _Thanks, Henry," Nerissa said keeping her tone light, "You're the best."_

" _Anything for you, Ms. Winters," Henry said hanging up._

Nerissa placed the phone back in the cradle and turned to her dad, "Henry is going to want to come in and put the groceries away himself and chat. So, you need to go into the bedroom and wait there while he's here. I'll call you when he's gone."

"I have a cover," Horatio said, "I don't need to hide."

"I know but I just don't want to have to explain to Henry why we look so much alike," Nerissa said referring to their distinct resemblance to each other.

"Alright," Horatio relented walking to the bedroom and closing the door. Moments later a knock came at the door.

"Arissa," the voice called, "It's Henry."

"Hey Henry," Nerissa said opening the door for him, "Thanks for ordering them for me."

"You're very welcome, Arissa," Henry smiled placing the bags on the counter, "I made sure to order mostly fruits, veggies, and easy to digest foods. I got some richer foods if you feel brave but you should probably hold off on those."

"I know, Henry," Nerissa rolled her eyes, "My doctor gave me the exact same instructions when he discharged me."

"I know," Henry replied putting away the groceries, "But I have something your doctor didn't."

"And what's that," Nerissa asked sarcastically.

"Personal experience," Henry said, "I used to be in the military. A few years ago I was a prisoner of war and was starved for a few months. I know how difficult it can be on a plain diet like yours. That's why I made sure to get a fun variety of foods I know will make your plain diet not so boring."

"I didn't know you were in the military," Nerissa was shocked that this sweet, blonde haired, blue eyed skinny guy in front of her could have been in the military much less someone with experience in what she was dealing with right now.

"It's not really something I advertise," Henry said putting away the milk and juice, "It's done and over with and now I can help you. So that you don't' make the same mistakes that I did when I came home after being rescued."

"Thank you, Henry," Nerissa said for what felt like the millionth time, "For being willing to help me at all."

"You're my friend, Arissa," Henry said turning to her, "It's what friends do. Look out for each other and help them get back up when you've been knocked down."

"Well, you better get going," Nerissa said, "The front desk is probably missing you."

"Yeah, Delilah gets pretty lonely when I'm gone," Henry joked walking towards the door.

Amused that he named his desk Nerissa chuckled, "Thanks again."

Henry stopped just outside the door, "I mean it Arissa. Anything you need don't hesitate to ask."

"I know," Nerissa said closing the door. She waited for a moment before calling to her dad, "You can come out now."

"You know it's strange," Horatio said coming into the kitchen, "Hearing people call you Arissa."

"It's my cover name," Nerissa said inspecting her newly restocked cabinets and fridge, "Everyone here calls me either Ms. Winters, Arissa or Riss. Depending on how well they know me."

"I know but it's still weird," Horatio said watching his daughter carefully, examining a scar that roped its way down from behind her ear to somewhere below the loose cotton shirt she was wearing, "How long?"

"How long what?" Nerissa asked still inspecting her new groceries.

"Did they torture you?" Horatio asked gently.

Nerissa froze unsure of whether to answer or not. One part of her screamed 'RUN' but the other told her that she needed to face this sooner rather than later, "Just over a month."

Horatio was stunned, "You were gone for three."

"I know," Nerissa said in a monotone, "The first month was torture. The second was spent for the most part in a coma from the repeated abuse and the last three weeks was a slow recovery because Yinsen couldn't do much to speed up the healing because they would suspect if he did and we were hiding the fact that I'd woken up."

"Oh Riss," Horatio said his eyes misting, "If you had that much time to heal, why are you still so battered?"

"Yinsen had to debride many of the wounds to keep them from getting infected, so they were open already when we made our escape. I also reopened several of the wounds in my escape and I got several more new ones during the escape. I opened up six of the fresher whip marks, three of the deep knife wounds, and received four more knife wounds and two gunshot wounds. Three of the four knife wounds were really shallow but long and the fourth is the one that almost killed me. The two bullet wounds were only deep grazes to my shoulder and thigh," Nerissa said brushing each of the wounds she described if she could reach them without twisting her body.

"You keep mentioning this Yinsen person," Horatio said keeping her talking, "Who was he?"

"He was an old friend of mine from my days as the Black Hand," Nerissa replied remembering her friend who died in that desert, "He was also being held in that camp with me and Tony. He's the person who kept me alive."

"I'd like to meet him," Horatio said, "I'd like to thank him for saving your life."

"You can't," Nerissa said sadly, "He's dead. He died in the escape."

Horatio didn't know what to say so he got up and walked over to the fridge, "Do you want an egg sandwich? I'm going to make one for myself."

"Sure," Nerissa said, "Can you put it on white bread?"  
"Of course," Horatio replied gathering the supplies needed for cooking.

"How long do you plan on staying?" Nerissa asked looking up from her cup of tea.

"As long as you need me to," Horatio said beginning to cook the eggs.

"I need to go back to work in a few days," Nerissa said, "Keep up an image so that Stane doesn't get a chance to kill Stark."

"You can't possibly be ready to go back," Horatio said unsurprised at his daughter's ambition but not ready for her to re-enter the world as fragile as she is.

"I'll be fine," Nerissa insisted, "If Stane thinks for a second that Tony is vulnerable he'll kill him and I can _not_ let that happen."

"Are you in love with Tony?" Horatio asked concerned that she was getting personally involved.

"What?" Nerissa asked shocked, "Of course not! Tony is my boss and he risked his life to save mine! He's one of the best friends I've had in a long time."

"One of the best friends you've had in a long time?" Horatio said frustrated, "You've got an entire family back in Miami that is waiting for you to come home! They're your friends! What about Ana? She misses her mother and you're here getting attached to people you probably won't ever see again!" Horatio took a deep breath and continued, "We've been in Miami worried sick about you and you were here falling in love with people you hardly know! "

Nerissa was stunned by her father's outburst and hurt that he would insinuate that she doesn't love them anymore and angry that she would question her judgment, "You're lecturing me about falling in love with people I shouldn't! What about when you fell in love with Eric's sister!"

Nerissa knew she had crossed a line the second it left her mouth but she was so angry she couldn't back down now, "As for me falling in love, I haven't. I don't love Tony and I don't love Henry! They have been my only friends since I got here!"

"They don't even know the real you!" Horatio blurted, "You're undercover! They like Arissa Winters, not Nerissa Caine!"

"You're wrong," Nerissa said biting back tears, "I have been myself from the moment I got here. They like me for me and Tony knows about my past. He found out about the Black Hand and Ava when we were prisoners and I told him all about Xavier and One and Four and Finn and Sven and everyone else from my life then! I left you guys out of that story because he can't know yet but when this is all over and Stane is dead, I'm going to tell him. And do you want to know why? Because he's my friend and he deserves to know why I had to lie to him for so long!"

Knowing that this was an argument that he was not going to win Horatio relented, "I hope you know what you're doing because if this blows up in your face… well, I hope it doesn't."

Nerissa finally wrapped her arms around herself, shutting down, "I think you need to go."

Horatio was hurt. She had never pushed him away that hard and that fast before, "Riss."

"No! Go," she ordered visibly fighting off a bad memory, "I'll be home when this is over. No sooner."

Seeing that she wasn't about to change her mind he said, "Alright, I'll go. Just know that you have a family waiting for you back home. We thought we lost you once this summer. We can't lose you again."

Horatio grabbed his bag from by the door and opened it, "I love you. We'll be waiting for you in Miami."

As soon as the door clicked shut and she heard her father's footsteps recede Nerissa slid to the ground and finally let all of her tears go. Tears of frustration and anger and hurt and fear. All running at once. She was hurt her father had questioned her judgment and left even though she'd told him to. Anger and frustration because he didn't understand how important this was to her. Fear because she was terrified that that damn desert may have taken her ability to have a relationship with her family, maybe she should just stay here in California. At least here they don't question her judgment and ability to take care of herself. Maybe Ana really would be better off without her.


	26. Chapter 26

Nerissa stayed home for three more days before she decided that she couldn't just sit in her apartment like a bump on a log. On the afternoon of the third day she got dressed in a nice long sleeve cable knit sweater and a pair of loose black jeans and headed over to her boss's house for the first time that wasn't for work.

"Tony!" Nerissa called as she walked into her boss's dark house when there was no response she pressed a button on a control panel on the wall, "J.A.R.V.I.S, where's Tony?"

"He is in the basement, Ms. Winters," J.A.R.V.I.S replied in his programmed British accent, "Would you like me to notify him that you are here?"

Nerissa replied, "No it's fine. I could use a little exercise on the stairs."

"As you wish, Ms. Winters," J.A.R.V.I.S replied, "It is nice to see you are okay."

Nerissa couldn't help but laugh at his choice of words, "J.A.R.V.I.S you're an AI you can't see anything."

"Not in the typical way that you do but I can see plenty," J.A.R.V.I.S answered, "Regardless it is nice to know you're alive and well after your ordeal."

"You looked into my medical records didn't you," Nerissa accused.

"They are on the Stark Industries mainframe," J.A.R.V.I.S said, "It is not like I hacked in."

Nerissa sighed, "Tony put you up to it."

"Yes," J.A.R.V.I.S replied, "He wanted to make sure that the doctors didn't miss anything during your examination."

"Did they?" Nerissa asked curious now.

"No, everything came back normal. The only thing they're concerned about is the potential of medical setbacks caused by the various infections you had."

"I knew that. They told me before I left the hospital," Nerissa replied, "I'm going down to the basement now."

Nerissa began carefully down the stairs. Taking her time, because her leg muscles were still a little weak from lack of use and injury. She made it down a majority of the steps, but when she reached the fifth to last step her ankle rolled and she slid down the remaining stairs on her back.

Nerissa groaned in pain, as her body came to rest at the bottom of the staircase. She sat up carefully, knowing that she had to have ripped open a few of her scabs and stitches.

"Riss!" Tony said rushing over to where she lay at the bottom of the steps, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Nerissa muttered taking a few deep breaths.

"Did you break anything? Hit your head? Rip open anything?" Tony asked helping her stand up.

"No, no, and yes," Nerissa replied through gritted teeth, "You have a first aid kit?"

"Yeah, let me help you," Tony said offering her support

"Thanks," Nerissa gritted out gingerly walking towards the sitting area, removing her sweater, "Think you could put some gauze over them?"

"Yeah," Tony said grabbing the kit out of a cabinet, 'What did you do?"

"My ankle rolled as I took a step and I slid down the rest of them," Nerissa replied her voice strained.

"Damn girl," Tony said examining the damage to her back, "I knew they beat you up but I never saw the full extent of it."

Nerissa suddenly became very self-conscious about her scars and healing wounds, "Just hurry up."

After a few more minutes Tony had bandaged her up and Nerissa had put her sweater back on, "Thanks, Tony. I'm such a klutz."

"No problem," Tony replied washing his hands, "How have you been?"

"Fine," Nerissa replied, "Henry has been keeping an eye on me, but something tells me you already knew that."

"Would I have someone spy on my favorite assistant?" Tony feigned innocence, "I would never do such a thing."

"Yes, you would," Nerissa shot back lightly, "You don't have to."  
"I know I don't but I worry," Tony said, "It's my fault that you got hurt. Pepper didn't want me to take you with me but I insisted. I should never have taken you over there."

"Is that what you think?" Nerissa replied, "That I got hurt because I went there?"

"Duh," Tony replied, "Regardless of the fact that you are a highly trained assassin, I didn't know that when I decided to take you. I took you as my 21-year-old assistant who barely knows how to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time."

"I hate to break it to you Stark, but I would have gone whether or not you wanted me to," Nerissa informed him.

Tony stopped, "What?"

"I would have gone regardless," Nerissa said taking a deep breath, "I was hired to protect you."

"You mentioned that in the desert," Tony replied.

"I did?" Nerissa asked shocked to hear this revelation.

"Yeah, it was when you thought you were going to die after the jeep broke down," Tony recalled, "You told me you were hired by an anonymous party that had heard there was a threat on my life."

Nerissa wasn't sure how to respond, "Well, then there goes my entire speech I'd prepared to break the news to you."

"You really don't remember?" Tony asked.  
"No," Nerissa shook her head, "I don't remember much about our escape other than Yinsen dying, getting into a fight and being stabbed, and trying to follow you in the jeep."

"Huh, well you could maybe answer one question I have," Tony told her.

"What is it?" Nerissa asked.

"Why were you hired?" Tony asked, "You're so young to be doing something like this."

"Really? You're going to say that my age is what disqualifies me for a job like this? Do you not remember all the stories I told you about my past as the Black Hand?" Nerissa asked, "I am one of the most deadly assassins in recent history and you want to say that I'm _too young_ to do this? Really?"

"Yeah, I get that you're not really the same as others your age. But that doesn't change the fact that you are still only 21 years old," Tony explained.

"I'm actually not 21," Nerissa replied folding her arms across her chest, "I'm 22. My employer fudged my age a bit to make my story more believable."

"Still that's only a year," Tony insisted, "Couldn't they have hired someone more… someone more disposable."

"I'm disposable to my employer," Nerissa muttered.

"Not to me you're not," Tony said, "You've come to be like the little sister I never had. The little sister I always wanted. If someone else taking this job would have meant that we never met but you wouldn't have had to go through all this I'd gladly take the other person. No-one, no matter their past, should have to go through what you did over _there_."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Tony, but I… I would never wish what happened to me upon another person. I know I'm strong enough to overcome it but I don't know who else is," Nerissa told him.

Tony fell silent for a minute but then asked, "So when this _threat_ is gone you're going to leave?"

"I don't know yet," Nerissa replied honestly, "There are some things back home that I'd miss but I'm not sure if I could to face them after all of this."

"You have a family?" Tony asked slightly surprised.

"Yes, but I'm not sure if it's good for them if I go back," Nerissa replied tears springing to her eyes, "I'm poison to everyone I'm around."

Hearing her distress Tony immediately forgot his problems and focused on her, "You're not poison."

"I am, though," Nerissa whispered, "Everyone I love gets hurt by my past."

"I didn't," Tony told her trying to cheer her up.

"Maybe not by my past directly but it is my fault that you have that stupid glorified battery in your chest," Nerissa replied referring to the miniaturized arc reactor that was embedded in Tony's chest that served as a magnet that stopped the movement of irremovable shrapnel towards his heart.

"No it's not," Tony asserted, "It's the Ten Rings fault. If they hadn't dropped that missile I wouldn't need this thing keeping the shrapnel away from my heart."

"But if I hadn't let you get out of that Humvee you never would have been hurt in the first place and it was because of my own actions that we were captured in the first place!" Nerissa snapped then quieter she said, "It's all my fault."

Tony put his arm around her shoulders gently, "You can't blame everything on yourself, Riss. You're only one person."

"I know but I'm supposed to be better and more capable of taking down the bad guys than the average human," Nerissa whispered, "I'm the Black Hand."

"But that's not who you are anymore," Tony assured her, "You're Arissa Winters my highly intelligent assistant, who can kick some serious ass. Not that Ava person who was a cold-blooded killer."

"Ava Strinne," Nerissa whispered, "That was what my friends called me then, or at least they were as close to friends as an assassin can have."

"You're not her anymore," Tony repeated, "You're a different person now, a better person."

"Thanks, Tony," Nerissa said wiping tears from her eyes, "So, how's work coming on your new suit of armor?"

"Pretty good actually," Tony said walking over to his workstation, "Since I have more tools and technology here I was able to build an entirely new suit in just a few days rather than a few weeks. It's much more advanced than the first one."

Nerissa got up and followed him and examined the new suit of armor before her, "Wow, this is so much better."

The suit had been colored hot rod red and gold and was much sleeker and less bulky than the first suit that Tony had made in the desert. This one was shaped more like a man and was built to body specifications that were slightly larger than Tony himself so that Tony could fit comfortably in the suit and was able to move just like he would without it.

"With all of my toys here I was able to build it so that is much more streamlined and advanced in weaponry than the Mark I," Tony boasted.

"The Mark I?" Nerissa asked.

"Yeah, that's what I'm calling them. You know as I advance the models," Tony explained, "Like when they come out with a new phone and change the number or letter."

"I get it," Nerissa replied amused, "So this one is the Mark II?"

"Yep," Tony replied proud of his creation, "I can't wait to take it for a test flight."  
"It flies?" Nerissa asked surprised, "I knew the Mark I flew but I didn't know that you could do that with a suit so small."

"Oh yeah," Tony said walking around the suit, "I used repulsor technology that's embedded in the hands and feet of the suit. They can also be used as weapons."

"Wow," Nerissa said, "When are you gonna take it out?"

Tony thought about it a second, "Now? I could use you back here keeping an eye on things."

Nerissa was stunned but soon a smile split her face, "Go suit up."

Tony grinned like a Cheshire cat and ran over to the suit and within minutes he shot out of the basement.

"Tony?" Nerissa said through the mic, "Can you hear me?"  
"Loud and clear," Tony yelled exhilarated, "This is so amazing! How does everything look?"

"Looks great," Nerissa replied fiddling with a few things on the computer, "Where are you at?"  
"Above downtown," Tony said, "I just went by the Ferris wheel."

"Make sure that you don't spook anyone," Nerissa warned.

"I know," Tony replied, "I'm going to see how high I can take this thing."

"Be careful," Nerissa told him a minute later the feed from the suit cut off, "Tony? Tony. Tony! Is everything okay? Come in Tony!" Nerissa frantically began checking different things that may tell her what happened, "Dammit Tony…"

"Riss?" Tony said over the intercom out of breath.

"Tony!" Nerissa replied sitting up straight, "Are you okay? What happened?"  
"Turns out if you go up high enough in the atmosphere ice will form on any surface available," Tony said breathing heavily.

"What happened?" Nerissa repeated still worried.

"A layer of ice formed on the suit and shut it down," Tony replied like it was no big deal.

"What!?" Nerissa screeched, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Tony replied waving off her worry, "I managed to power it back on before it crashed into the middle of a busy intersection."

"Tony," Nerissa groaned, "You need to come back now."

"I'm already here," Tony said, "I'm putting it down on the roof, then I'm gonna walk it in through the rooftop entrance." Nerissa sighed and sat back in the chair but leaped up in alarm and pulled her pistol from her waistband when something came crashing through the ceiling by the cars. She rushed over and found Tony laying on top of one of his sports cars still in the suit.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Nerissa asked.

"Fine," Tony sat up, "Turns out that the suit is too heavy for the roof if I don't put it down gently enough."

"You crashed through the roof and the living room?" Nerissa asked stunned.

"Yeah, I took out the piano too," Tony sighed.

"And you say that I'm the one that needs to be more careful," Nerissa teased.

"You are," Tony said walking over to the station that would remove the suit, "I just need to work on my landing skills."


	27. Chapter 27

"Hey Tony," Nerissa greeted walking past the ruins of the piano and into his living room, "Why haven't you gone back to work yet?"

"The board locked me out," Tony grumbled, "Can you believe it? Locked out of my own company."

"Why did they do that?" Nerissa asked not recalling that piece of news.

"The day after we got back from Afghanistan," Tony said taking a swig of his coke, "I made the announcement that Stark Industries would no longer be manufacturing weapons. So, they decided to lock me out on the grounds of being incapable of running my company due to PTSD."

"That's insane," Nerissa said in disbelief, "You're not suffering from PTSD. I've seen PTSD up close and personal and you definitely don't have it."

"You know that and I know that but the board refuses to believe it," Tony huffed, "I just want to prevent any more American troop casualties because of my weapons somehow ending up in the wrong hands."

"That's very responsible of you, Tony," Nerissa replied eyeing the pizza box on the coffee table, hungrily but knew that it was too greasy for her stomach right now, "You've grown a lot since I met you."

"At least someone agrees with me," Tony sighed and he resumed watching T.V. A few moments later a new clip of an annual ball his company puts on came on.

" _After making a return home after being held hostage by terrorists in Afghanistan, Tony Stark is not expected to be in attendance of tonight's gala," the reporter said, "Sources say that he is home bed ridden from injuries sustained during his time as a prisoner. Additionally, an appearance from his assistant, Arissa Winters, is not expected because sources report that she is hospitalized with severe injuries from her time as a captive as well."_

Tony clicked off the tv, "J.A.R.V.I.S? Do we have an invite on file for that?"

"No, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S replied.

Tony stood and turned to Nerissa, "What do you say? Shall we go crash my own party?"

Nerissa replied unsurely, "I don't really have anything to wear."

"We'll stop somewhere and pick something up for you," Tony said, "I know a place."

"Tony, I don't know," Nerissa replied.

"Come on, Riss," Tony insisted but then it hit him why she might not want to go, "Oh, you don't want to show your back and arms do you?"

"No," Nerissa whispered.

"Come on," Tony held out his hand to her, "I know a place that has dresses that will cover everything and still make you look drop dead gorgeous. They'll do your hair and makeup, too." Then softer he said, "You can't hide forever, Riss. It's been two weeks since we got back. I think it's time to show the world that we're not lying in bed helpless."

Nerissa took his hand, "Alright. It could be fun right?"

"Definitely," Tony said pulling her out the door.

* * *

An hour later Tony and Nerissa were both decked out in the best formal wear they could find and Nerissa had her hair and makeup done. Tony was dressed in a fitted tux and was looking sharp. Nerissa had found a shimmering navy, blue floor length gown that was only semi-formfitting and had long sleeves, that fell just off her shoulder, and a back that hid all of her scars and wounds and a neckline that fell just below her collarbone. Her red hair had only been loosely curled since she had chopped off her waist-length hair to just above her shoulders days after coming home and her makeup had been done lightly. As they pulled up in front of the hall that the gala was being held at Nerissa took a deep breath, "This is it."  
"You're worried about being around a bunch of people," Tony said as more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah," Nerissa admitted, "I never have really been about being in large crowds of people."

"You'll be fine," Tony assured, "I promise. Besides you might find someone you know."

"Who?" Nerissa asked but Tony had gotten out of the car and was walking away. Nerissa ran to catch up to him and as she reached him the paparazzi noticed them. They swarmed towards them and surrounded them as they walked asking a blur of questions but Tony only shielded Nerissa from them and kept walking. Tony was focused on only one person, Obadiah Stane.

"Tony!" Obadiah said surprised as he saw them.

"Obi," Tony greeted.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Obadiah said smiling then turned to Nerissa, "How are you doing, Ms. Winters?"

"I'm doing fine," Nerissa said putting on a fake smile, silently plotting how she was going to take him down for what he's done, "Thanks for asking."

"We were all so worried about you here," Obadiah told her, "We figured Tony could take care of himself but you, my dear, are rather young to have experienced such horrors."

Nerissa smiled politely, "Thank you Mr. Stane. I think I weathered it much better than I could have."

"You sure have," Obadiah said, "Why don't you run along. I would like to have a word with Tony."

"Of course," Nerissa obliged and headed into the building. She was stunned at how beautifully the entire place had been decorated for this gala. There were elegant ice sculptures and other pieces of artwork placed throughout the entire place and each table had lovely centerpieces and there were several large banquet tables piled high with food for the guests to enjoy and a fully stocked bar. What surprised her most was who she spotted on the dancefloor.

"Henry!" Nerissa called waving to him when he looked up.

"Arissa!" Henry yelled walking over and hugging her, "It's so great to see you here! You look fantastic."

"Thank you," Nerissa replied brushing a red lock of hair behind her ear, "I didn't want to come but Tony insisted."

"I'm glad he did," Henry smiled, "I come here every year but I think this will be the best."

"And why is that?" Nerissa asked coyly.

"Because you're here," Henry said draping his arm across her shoulders.

Nerissa suddenly became very uncomfortable and began searching for a way to quickly escape. Her escape came to her in the form of Rhodie, "Hey, I have to go talk to someone real quick, but I'll catch you later."

"Alright, but you better let me buy you a drink later," Henry said stepping away.

"Sounds like a plan," Nerissa said giving him a tight smile but quickly hurried off to talk to Rhodie.

"Hey Rhodie," Nerissa greeted as she came to a stop beside him.

"Ms. Winters," Rhodie said surprised, "I didn't expect to see you here tonight."

"Doesn't seem as though anybody did," Nerissa laughed, "Tony's here, too. It was his idea for us to come and I'm pretty sure I told you to call me Arissa."

"Right, Arissa," Rhodie corrected with a laugh, "So, Tony's here?"  
"Yep," Nerissa replied, "He saw the news report on tv earlier today for this and he decided he wanted to shock the public with an appearance."

"Sounds like, Tony," Rhodie said, "So, how have you been feeling?"

"I've felt better," Nerissa replied honestly figuring that Rhodie would understand without making her feel like a glass doll.

"I'm sure, you took one helluva beating," Rhodie said, "I've seen hardened and highly decorated, servicemen break after going through that level of abuse. You're pretty tough, kid."

"Kid?" Nerissa asked feigning offense at the name, "Really?"

"Yes, kid," Rhodie laughed pushing her lightly, "You're what 21? I'm almost 20 years older than you."

"So," Nerissa replied putting her hands on her hips, "I'm very mature for my age."

"Whatever you say," Rhodie teased, "So, are you going back to work even though Tony's locked out?"

"Not technically," Nerissa replied, "I can't really since I'm employed as his assistant but he'd like some help with a project he's working on. So, that's what I will be doing and it gives me an opportunity to keep busy without overdoing it and re-injuring myself."

"We wouldn't want that," Rhodie said spotting someone over her shoulder, "I've got to go but it was nice talking to you. Bye."

"Bye, Rhodie," Nerissa said and then headed towards the bar where she'd spotted someone who shouldn't be here.

"Excuse me," Nerissa said tapping the dark haired woman on the shoulder, "But what do you think you're doing here?"  
The woman turned around clearly prepared to kick whoever's butt that dared to talk to her that way but her insult died on her lips when she saw who it was.

"Rissa!" the woman squealed, "What are you doing here?"  
"I could ask you the same question, Nathalie," Nerissa asked hugging her friend, "You're supposed to be in Miami keeping an eye on my family."

"I know but I got a call from an old friend who needed a date to this thing," Nathalie replied, "So, I figured that they'd be fine for a day or two and I'd get a chance to look for you. You know to see how you are doing."

"I'm fine," Nerissa replied, "I've been back for about a week and a half now. Never been better."

"You're lying," Nathalie accused, "I can see it in your eyes. You're in serious pain. Mentally and physically."

"Really, I'm fine, Nat," Nerissa insisted, "I'm just a little beat up."

"A little?" Nathalie asked clearly not buying it, "You're a little worse off than that I bet. You're in the middle of California wearing long sleeves and a high neckline at a gala. The girl I know would be wearing something a little more risque if she was 'fine', especially when undercover."

"Nat," Nerissa said.

Nathalie interrupted, "No, don't try to convince me. I know you better than you care to admit. I know when my best friend is in pain and all I want to do is help."

"I appreciate it, Nat," Nerissa replied rubbing her arms, "I really do but I just… I'm not ready to talk about the things they did to me in that camp yet."

"I know that," Nathalie told her friend, "I've been through this before, too. Remember?" Nerissa did remember that and let her friend continue, "You brought me out of a pretty dark place, Riss. I just want to return the favor."

"I know you do, Nathalie," Nerissa said, "And if I need help you will be the first I call. Okay? But right now I just want to be left alone to process it."

"Okay," Nathalie said satisfied with her answer, "You've got my number."

"That I do," Nerissa smiled, "So what do you say? Let me buy you a drink?"

"That sounds fantastic," Nathalie replied turning towards the bar, "My date seems to have disappeared on me."

"What kind of person ditches their date?" Nerissa asked.

"Paul Danielson," Nathalie said, "That's who."

"Paul Danielson?" Nerissa replied aghast, "Why would you go to a gala like this with _him_?

"I told you why," Nathalie told her, "I needed a good excuse to come look for you."

"Still," Nerissa replied, "I'm not worth spending time with him and if he's anywhere near here. I've got to go."

"Why?" Nathalie asked, "What's wrong?"

"You I can trust not to blow my cover," Nerissa replied backing away, "But him… there's no way."

"Oh," Nathalie said, "I get it. Then you better get out of here. I wouldn't want to put you in any more danger."

"Thanks, Nat," Nerissa said stepping away, "I'll see you once I get back in Miami. I promise."  
"You better," Nathalie replied, "And you had better bring that little girl of yours with you."

"You can count on it," Nerissa said and then she was headed out the door.

* * *

"Hey, where are you going in such a hurry?" Tony asked when Nerissa bumped into him on her way out.  
"I need to get home," Nerissa replied, "I'm not feeling well. My head is pounding."

"Let me take you," Tony offered, sitting his drink down.  
"No, it's fine," Nerissa insisted, "I've already called a car."

"Put it on my tab then," Tony relented, "I know how expensive they can be when they pick up from these things."

Nerissa knew that he wouldn't take no for an answer and smiled, "Alright, but you had better stay here and spend some time with Pepper."

"Deal," Tony agreed flashing his million dollar smile, "You get some rest."

"I will," Nerissa promised, "Goodnight Tony."


	28. Chapter 28

When Nerissa got home from the gala she immediately headed to her bedroom and proceeded to get out of her dress and into her pajamas. After carefully hanging up the fancy gown she headed into her bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She had opened up the medicine cabinet to get out her toothbrush but when she closed it she saw Raza standing by the door in the mirror. Nerissa spun around in fear to face him but only saw her bed through the door. Her heart pounding she walked back into her bedroom to make sure that he hadn't ducked out of the door but found nothing. Unnerved from the sight of her captor she quickly brushed her teeth and then got into bed. She tossed and turned for 45 minutes in the dark of her room before she finally climbed out of bed and walked through her apartment turning on every single light in the house. She couldn't stand the darkness and the hiding places it offered for nightmares such as Raza. Even though she had dispelled the darkness, the silence in her house was unnerving and oppressive so she quickly turned on the TV and turned it up several notches. Even though these two issues had been resolved Nerissa was too wired to sleep, so she grabbed the afghan off of the back of the couch and curled up in her favorite chair and watched t.v for a few hours before she finally fell asleep at 4 am. Her alarm went off at 7 a.m. and she woke from her slumber with a stretch, but when she stood her head began to pound uncontrollably. She winced at the unwelcome pain but continued to her bedroom but her vision went spotty when she entered her room and she quickly sat down on her bed. Nerissa knew that this couldn't be good so she picked up the landline and dialed Pepper.

Pepper answered on the third ring, "Pepper Potts. How can I help you?"

"Pepper," Nerissa said the pain obvious in her voice, "I know that you probably have work to do today but I need your help."

"Arissa? What's wrong?" Pepper asked worry lacing her voice, "Are you sick?"

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Nerissa groaned, "I woke up a few minutes ago to my head pounding, my body aches, and my vision just went spotty."

"I'm calling Tony and coming right over," Pepper said and Nerissa could hear the shuffling of papers in the background.

"No!" Nerissa said as forcefully as she could, "Please. Don't call Tony. I don't want him to worry and feel like it's his fault I'm sick."

"Why would he think it's his fault?" Pepper asked.

"Because he'll think it's because of something that happened at the gala last night," Nerissa insisted.

"What happened last night?" Pepper asked and Nerissa could hear a door click in the background.

"That's just it. Nothing happened last night and I don't want him to think it did and that's why I'm sick," Nerissa explained, "Please could you just come take me to my doctor?"

"I'm already almost to my car," Pepper told her, "I'll be there in a few. Is your door locked?"

"Yes, but just have Henry let you in," Nerissa answered, "But make up some excuse to tell him so he doesn't worry, too."

"Alright," Pepper agreed, "I'll come up with something. You just hang tight until I get there."  
"Please hurry," Nerissa begged and then hung up and curled up into a ball.

Fifteen minutes later Nerissa heard the door to her apartment open and close softly.

"Arissa?" Pepper called into the apartment, surprised to see all the lights on.

"I'm in the bedroom," Nerissa whimpered. She heard the soft click of Pepper's heels approaching her bedroom.

"Arissa?" Pepper said pushing the door open and spotted her curled up on the bed, "Oh gosh. You're really not okay."

"No," Nerissa whimpered softly, "I don't know what's wrong."

"Can you get up?" Pepper asked.

"Probably with help," Nerissa said pain lacing her voice.

"Alright," Pepper said stepping over to the bed, "I'm going to help you up and we're going to walk out to my car and you're going to the E.R."

"Henry can't see me," Nerissa insisted, "He'll freak out."

"Okay," Pepper agreed, "Is there a side door or anything?"

"Yeah, it's out the hall and to the left," Nerissa said weakly.

"Let's go then," Pepper said and they headed out of her apartment. A short time later the pair was walking into the emergency room.

"I need some help here!" Pepper called, "My friend is in some serious pain and she can't see."

Several nurses heard Pepper's plea and immediately dropped what they were doing and flew over to them, one pushing a wheelchair.

"What are her symptoms?" asked the nurse pushing Nerissa into the wheelchair and wheeling her into an exam room.

"I'm not really sure," Pepper said, "She called me this morning and I could tell she was in some serious pain over the phone. I know that she said her head is pounding and she can't see."

"Has she suffered any recent trauma?" another nurse asked preparing the supplies for an IV.

"She just came back from Afghanistan a few weeks ago after being held in a terror camp and tortured for a few months," Pepper replied, "She was in pretty bad shape but she seemed to be recovering well until this morning."

"Could be an infection," the first nurse replied, "Get her going on fluids and I'm going to take some samples."

The second nurse then tried to stick the needle into one of Nerissa's veins, but since she couldn't see Nerissa had a panic attack due to the unexpected needle stick and she started to flail around, screaming.

"Ms. Winters," one of the nurses said trying to restrain her but it was only making the attack worse, "You need to calm down it's alright." The nurse's attempts at calming the frantic woman down were failing and finally, a new nurse came in and gave her a sedative.

"This poor girl must have been through hell," one of the older nurses said sadly and turned to Pepper, "Don't you worry dear. We're going to take good care of your friend."

"Thank you," Pepper said still in shock, "I didn't know that she was going to do that."

"It was our fault entirely," the old nurse said, "We should have told her that we were going to give her an injection since we know she has been tortured."

"I should have known," Pepper whispered.

"You couldn't have possibly known," the old nurse consoled, "Why don't you go out into the waiting room and I'll come get you when we have her in a room."  
"Alright," Pepper said, "What's your name?"

"Elaine," the old nurse replied with a smile, "Now go. I'll come get you."

After she sat down in the waiting room Pepper pulled out her cell phone and dialed Tony. She knew Arissa wasn't going to be happy but at this point, she figured Tony deserved to know.

"Hello," Tony chirped, music blasting in the background.

"Tony, it's Pepper," Pepper said taking a deep breath, "You need to come down to Eastview right now."

"Why?" Tony asked.

"It's Arissa," Pepper replied somberly, "She woke up this morning with a serious headache and couldn't see. She called me to come get take her to the hospital because she couldn't get there herself."

"I'm on my way," Tony said and then the line went dead.

Tony was storming into the waiting room of the hospital five minutes later and Pepper knew that he had most likely broken every traffic law on the way here.

"Where is she?" Tony demanded.

"They took her back for some tests about ten minutes ago," Pepper replied, "They had to sedate her because she had a panic attack when they tried to start an IV."

"What caused the panic attack?" Tony asked concerned with that particular piece of information.

"They think that it caused a flashback to something they did to her in that camp," Pepper replied putting her face in her hands.

"Oh man," Tony said running his hand through his hair, "I'd always thought that they'd done something to her like that. They would have had to with as many needle marks that she had on her."

"Is she going to be okay, Tony?" Pepper asked looking up, tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, Peps," Tony said putting his arm around her, "She's a tough girl. She'll be just fine."

"How can you be so sure?" Pepper asked, "You didn't see what I saw this morning or even just a few minutes ago. I've never seen her so scared."

"She'll be just fine," Tony assured her, "She has to."


	29. Chapter 29

An hour later there was still no news from the doctors about Nerissa's condition and Tony and Pepper were still sitting in the waiting room, worrying.

"It's been forever!" Tony groaned in frustration.

"I know but we have to be patient," Pepper told him.

"I know but still. Shouldn't we know _something_ by now?" Tony growled.

"Family of Arissa Winters?" a doctor said coming into the room.

Tony and Pepper shot up, "That's us."

"Hello, my name's Dr. Carlinson," greeted the doctor, "I'm Ms. Winters attending physician."

"How is she?" Tony asked eagerly.

"We have her resting in a private room right now," the doctor replied, "but she's not well. She is currently suffering from a pretty serious infection behind her left eye and the swelling has caused these severe headaches and loss of sight."

"Is the infection linked to her recent trauma?" Pepper asked.

"It is very likely," Dr. Carlinson confirmed, "We are currently giving her a round of pretty heavy duty antibiotics and lots of fluids. In addition to this, we are recommending that she remain in the hospital for a few more days for observation in the case a more serious complication arises."

Tony took the news with a shocked silence but asked, "When can we see her?"

"I can take you both to her right now," Dr. Carlinson replied.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Tony asked, "Let's go."

* * *

Tony and Pepper were shown to Nerissa's room and both stood in solemn silence at the sight of their best friend hooked up to so many machines.

"She wasn't hooked up to this many machines after we came home from that camp," Tony said stunned.

"We're trying to monitor all of her systems so that we can catch any complications early enough so that they don't cause any serious damage," Dr. Carlinson explained.

"I understand but _damn_ ," Tony said, "She was doing so well and now this."

"The road to recovery can be very bumpy. Especially after a serious trauma such as hers," Dr. Carlinson said, "but judging by how nicely some of her wounds have healed so far, I can tell she's a tough girl. I think that she'll recover from this setback quite nicely."

"Thanks, Doc," Tony replied pulling a chair up next to Nerissa's bed.

"I'll be back in a few hours to check up on her but nurses will be in and out," Dr. Carlinson said stepping out the door.

"Damn kid," Tony whispered, "You just can't catch a break can you?"

"Tony," Pepper said.

"Yeah?" Tony looked up.

"You hungry?" she asked, "I can go get some food from the cafeteria if you are."

"Um yeah. Sure," Tony said pulling out his wallet, "Here get yourself something, too."

Pepper was gone for a few minutes when Nerissa started to stir.

"Riss?" Tony sat up straight.

Nerissa groaned, "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital," Tony explained, "You've got a pretty bad infection."

"I still can't see," Nerissa said fear lacing her voice, "Why can't I see, Tony?.

"The infection cause some swelling behind your eyes, but the docs said that the meds they've got you on should fix that pretty quick," Tony assured her, "Everything's going to be alright."

* * *

A week later Nerissa's infection was under control thanks to the heavy duty antibiotics that her doctors had pumped her full of while she was in the hospital. Now she was out and on some milder antibiotics to kill off the last traces of the infection. Today she was headed into Stark Industries to pick up a few files for Tony from Obadiah. She had decided that she was going to do a little spying on her _favorite_ scumbag, Mr. Obadiah Stane himself. Ever since coming back from Afghanistan, Nerissa had been looking for the perfect opportunity to dig up some dirt on the man that had ordered the hit on Tony and hopefully get some revenge of her own on him. She had sworn in that desert that she would kill him if it was the last thing she did because he was responsible for the Ten Rings taking her and Tony but she needed the proof. So she was headed to the main offices to do some snooping.

"Ms. Winters!" the main desk secretary, Debbie, said clearly surprised to see her there, "We weren't expecting to see you today."

"Mr. Stark asked me to come in and do some errands for him," Nerissa smiled, "He left a few things in his office and some files unfiled. So, he sent me in because I was going stir crazy"

"I bet," Debbie said, "Well I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Thanks, Debs," Nerissa replied, "See you later."

Nerissa hurried off to the elevator before anyone else could delay her further. Once she was in Tony's office she logged into the Stark Industries main frame from his computer and began her search. Within minutes she had located some information that sent her flying out of Tony's office, Obadiah has a secret second office on the top level of the research facility in the abandoned offices there. Before she could head out though she had to pick up the files from the lead scumbag himself and she headed down a few floors to Stane's office. Nerissa paused before his door and knocked.

"Come in," Obadiah said from within the office.

Nerissa pushed open the door, "Hello Mr. Stane."

"Ah, Ms. Winters! What can I do for you?" Obadiah asked.

"I came to pick up the files that Mr. Stark requested," Nerissa replied with a forced smile, disgusted by her proximity to this man.

"Of course," Obadiah said digging around his desk drawers, "Aha! Here you go, Ms. Winters."

Nerissa walked over and reached for them, "Thank you Mr. Stane."

The second Nerissa had her hand on the file Obadiah's free hand shot out and grabbed her wrist and turned it over. Startled Nerissa didn't immediately pull away giving him time to spot the 8X that had been burned into her her flesh at a young age by Xavier.

"That's an interesting scar," Obadiah observed as she yanked her hand back, "It doesn't look very fresh. Did you get it in Afghanistan?"

"No," Nerissa said pulling her sleeve over it, " I've had it as long as I can remember."

"I see," Obadiah contemplatively.

"Well, thank you for the files," Nerissa said still rattled.

"You're very welcome, Ms. Winters," Obadiah replied with a startling grin.

Nerissa then took her exit and hurried out of the building worried that he was going to follow her. She was sure that he knew what her brand meant, Raza had to have told him after they escaped because she knew that Raza _wasn't_ dead. As a result of her paranoia, Nerissa made several extra turns and detours to ensure that she wasn't followed from the main offices to the research facilities. Once she had arrived at the facility, without anybody following her, she calmly walked into the building trying not to draw attention to herself. Within minutes she had made it up to the offices that overlooked the supersized arc reactor that powered the facility. Nerissa quickly located the office that was Obadiah's secret office, she slipped inside and began her research. A few hours later her phone rang.

" _Hello?" She answered_

" _Arissa it's Pepper," Pepper said frantically._

 _Nerissa sat up straight hearing the tone of Pepper's voice, "What's wrong?"_

" _It's Obadiah," Pepper said, "He's done some terrible things."_

" _What?" Nerissa said slightly confused._

" _He's the one who had the Ten Rings kidnap you and Tony," Pepper replied breathlessly._

 _Pepper was telling her things she already knew but she had to play along so she said, "What?!"_

" _Yeah," Pepper said, "He hired them and they were supposed to kill Tony but they didn't for some reason but it was Obadiah's fault you guys were taken."_

" _Okay," Nerissa said trying to stay calm, "You need to call that Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division guy that you were supposed to interview with today and get them to arrest Obadiah."_

" _I'm already with him," Pepper replied._

" _Okay," Nerissa said, "Put me on the phone with him. Now."_

" _Alright, here you go," Pepper said handing the phone off._

" _Ms. Winters?" said a voice, "My name is Special Agent Phil Coulson."_

" _I should have known S.H.I.E.L.D. would send you to do a high profile interview like this," Nerissa said unsurprised to hear that voice._

" _I'm sorry, do we know each other?" Coulson asked._

" _Sort of," Nerissa replied, "I shot you one time when I was a girl."_

" _The Black Hand," Coulson said realization dawning on him, "What are you doing working for a man like Tony Stark? Here to kill him?"_

" _What!? NO!" Nerissa yelled, "I am protecting him from Obadiah Stane! The FBI and CIA hired me to protect him."_

" _What? They couldn't find anyone else to protect him so they hired a killer like you and one who's supposed to be dead at that," Coulson replied viciously._

 _Nerissa ignored his comment, "Look I'm not going to try and convince you that I'm a changed person, which I am by the way. Right now we need to focus on keeping Tony and Pepper safe."_

" _Agreed," Coulson replied, "But this conversation isn't over. I suppose you have a plan?"_

" _Actually I do," she replied, "You need to get over to the Stark Industries Research Lab right now and find Obadiah's super suit that he built under the radar."_

" _Where are you?" Coulson asked._

" _That doesn't matter," Nerissa replied, "You follow your orders, I have a plan of my own."_

Nerissa then hung up and rifled through a few papers.

"Well, well, well," a voice said from the door.

Nerissa spun around and saw Obadiah leaning against the door frame, "Mr. Stane, what are you doing here, sir?"

"Apparently confirming my suspicions," Obadiah said walking over.

"What suspicions, sir?" Nerissa said acting as though she knew nothing.

"You're the Black Hand, my dear," Stane replied dangerously, "I had always had my suspicions but seeing that brand on your wrist… That was the final piece of the puzzle that told me who you really were."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nerissa lied looking for a way out.

"Yes you do," Obadiah said leaning closer to her, "You are a cold-blooded killer. A cold blooded killer that I hired to kill Tony Stark and you **DIDN'T**!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nerissa whispered just as dangerously, "Now please step away."

Obadiah acquiesced but spoke, "So, how _did_ you survive that desert?"

"Luck I guess," Nerissa replied reaching into her waistband, "Which is what you'll need to make it out of here alive!"

Nerissa yanked her dagger out of its holster and launched herself at Stane. Stane saw it coming though and moved out of the way.

"You're quicker than I thought you would be… for an old man," Nerissa teased darkly, "No problem though I've taken down tougher men than you."

She leaped at him again swiping viciously at his neck but he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back but she turned into it, slipping out of his grasp. Nerissa dropped down and kicked Obadiah's legs out from under him. She sat on his chest, her dagger at his throat.

"I haven't enjoyed killing anyone in a long time," Nerissa sneered, "but I think I'll enjoy slitting your throat and watching you bleed out for what you've done."

"If only you'd get the chance," Obadiah said as he punched her in the face. He pushed her away from him and pulled his own weapon out of his waistband. He pointed the gun at her, "I thought for sure that you'd put up more of a fight. Oh well, I'll still enjoy putting a bullet or two in you."

"Go ahead," Nerissa taunted, "Kill me."

"Oh I will but I think I want to leave you for awhile. Let you suffer and then come back to finish the job. Slowly," Stane said, "I can't risk you following me and stopping my plans. So, I'll just do this." He then fired a shot right into Nerissa's left knee cap. She screamed in pain, clutching her ruined knee and Obadiah smiled, "That felt pretty good. I think another for good measure would be fantastic."

He fired another round right into her upper abdomen and watched her writhe in pain.

"You'll never get away with this!" Nerissa said gritting her teeth.

Obadiah laughed, "I already have."

Then he was gone and Nerissa was left lying in a growing pool of her own blood.


	30. Chapter 30

*****Tony's POV*****

"Riss, it's Tony. Where are you? I've been trying to get ahold of you for an hour," Tony told his assistant's voicemail, "I'm starting to get worried. Give me a call back when you get this message." Tony hung up and looked at his phone wondering where on earth she could be. He ran through dozens of scenarios in his head and only a few of them turned out that she was alright and just running late. He sat down on his couch and was about to dial her again when his phone rang. It was Pepper, he answered figuring she might know where Arissa was but before could say anything there was a high pitched whining noise in his ear and he found that he couldn't move. A pair of hands guided Tony's head to rest on the couch and someone very recognizable spoke.

"It's a shame that the government disapproved of this little device," Obadiah said stepping around the couch, "There are so many different uses for causing temporary paralysis in someone."

"You remember this little toy don't you?" Stane asked holding up the device that was no bigger than a flash drive, "Personally, I think it's one of your best inventions. Well, up until you came up with that little suit of yours that got you out of that desert prison camp and that mini arc reactor that you've got in your chest there." Tony couldn't reply to anything but he was aware of what Obadiah was doing and all of the pieces finally fit together. It was Obadiah who put the hit out on him and had him and Arissa captured in Afghanistan. It finally made sense why Obadiah had had him locked out of his own company.

"I hope you've enjoyed your last few weeks on earth Tony," Obadiah said pulling a spinning tool out of a briefcase, "Because you won't live to see another day." Obadiah leaned down and used that tool to remove the reactor from Tony's chest. Once it was disconnected Tony's body seized up for a moment from the shock, "Goodbye Tony. Don't worry though you won't be alone in death for long because your precious Arissa is bleeding out as we speak."

Then Obadiah was gone and Tony was left alone paralyzed on his couch.

* * *

 *****Pepper's POV*****

Pepper had just tried to call Tony and he had answered but then it had hung right back up. She tried to call him again but this time there was no answer at all.

"I think something is wrong with Tony," Pepper told Agent Coulson.

"I don't have enough men to go to his house," Coulson informed her, "Our priority is finding Obadiah Stane."

"We have to help him!" Pepper pleaded, "Without him this is pointless!"  
"I'm sorry Ms. Potts but I can't," Coulson apologized.

An idea hit Pepper and she dialed someone she knew could help.

"Hello," a voice answered.

"Rhodie!" Pepper said relieved that he answered, "Obadiah's gone crazy! I think he's hurt Tony! I need you to go to Tony's house right now and see if he's okay!"

"Whoa, Pepper," Rhodie said not entirely sure what she just said, "You need to slow down and say that again." Pepper took a deep breath and repeated herself and Rhodie replied, "Okay I'm headed over there right now! I'm sure he's alright."

"Thanks, Rhodie," Pepper said, "You're the best."

* * *

 *****Tony's POV*****

Within a few minutes of Obadiah leaving Tony had regained enough movement to be able to crawl to the elevator that went down to his basement workshop. It was slow going and painful because of the loss of his chest piece that had been keeping the metal shrapnel in his chest from moving and now the shrapnel was shifting with his movements. By the time he had dragged himself to the elevator he was sweaty and out of breath, but he knew that if he wanted to save Arissa he had to get to the Mark I chest piece that Pepper had put into a decorative glass box to commemorate his return. That old chest piece wouldn't work as well as the one Stane had taken but it would have to work for now. It was a struggle to pull himself up enough to be able to reach the button to send the elevator downward but he did it and soon he was crawling out of the elevator towards the desk that the old chest piece was sitting on. It took Tony what seemed like forever to reach the desk and he couldn't reach the box that held the chest piece and he didn't have enough energy to pull himself up again. He frantically grasped at the top of the desk but he ran out of energy and collapsed to the floor gasping for breath. When he rolled onto his back he saw his robotic grabber arm holding out the box that held the chest piece to him. Tony took the chest piece from the robot and said, "Good boy."

Then he smashed the glass box onto the ground, releasing the chest piece from the box.

* * *

 *****Rhodie's POV*****

Rhodie had broken almost every traffic law on his way to Tony's house but he didn't care because he could feel in his gut that something was wrong. Once he pulled up to Tony's house he leaped out of his car and ran into the house.

"Tony!" Rhodie called into the seemingly empty house. He did a quick search of the upper level of the house before he ran down the stairs to Tony's workshop. When he got to the bottom of the stairs his blood ran cold seeing Tony laying still on the ground. He ran over to him and grabbed his shoulder, "Tony! Are you okay?"

Tony rolled over and sat up, his face pale and sweaty, "Pepper?"

"She's fine. She's with some fed," Rhodie assured him, "They're about to arrest Obadiah."

Tony's face got stony, "That's not going to be enough."

Tony got up and began calibrating his metal suit for flight.

"Is this what you've been working on?" Rhodie asked looking the hi-tech suit of armor up and down.

"Yeah," Tony replied stepping up onto the suiting platform, "I've got to go stop Obadiah."

"Can I do anything to help?" Rhodie asked.

Tony closed the face mask on the suit, "Just keep the skies clear."

* * *

 *****Nerissa's POV*****

Nerissa had been laying on that cold floor in a pool of her own blood for nearly fifteen minutes and she could feel her life slipping away. She knew how unlikely it was that anybody would find her in time to save her. Her phone had been knocked across the room in the struggle and she couldn't muster the energy to crawl over to it, every move she made sent pain searing through her wounded knee and abdomen. After another couple of minutes, her phone began to ring and she recognized the tone as Tony's ringer. Hearing the familiar tone she was given a new found burst of energy and determination that sent her crawling her way across the floor, gritting her teeth in pain. She reached the phone and answered it.

"Tony," she grunted.

"Riss! You're alive!" Tony yelled relieved to hear her voice.

"Barely," she answered trying not to pass out from the pain.

"What happened?" Tony asked trying to keep her talking.

"Obadiah jumped me," Nerissa answered trying to keep her eyes open, "He figured out that I was the Black Hand and was furious because he hired me to kill you but I was already working for the FBI and CIA to make sure you weren't killed."

"So why did you take the contract with Obi if you were working to keep me alive?" Tony asked still trying to keep her conscious.

"To ensure he wouldn't hire anybody else to kill you," Nerissa replied, her consciousness slipping.

"I know," Tony answered, "Where are you?"  
"I'm in the research facility offices," Nerissa whispered blackness closing in on her.

"I'm on my way, Riss. Please stay awake," Tony pleaded, "Stay with me."

"I'm trying," Nerissa said, "But it's so cold…"

"Just stay with me," Tony pleaded, "You've got to stay with me, Rissa."

Nerissa then heard a crash in the background, "Tony?"

He didn't reply. All Nerissa could hear was the sound of Tony grunting as he crashed into a wall. Then she heard Obadiah's voice, "You know Tony. I didn't think that you'd be mobile so soon. No matter I'll just kill you with this new suit that I made from the wreckage of your first suit. You know the one you built for your escape from the Ten Rings."

Nerissa's blood ran cold when she heard that Obadiah had a functioning suit of his own but she didn't get to hear the rest because her phone died. She knew Tony didn't stand a chance against a suit as large as Obadiah's. Her adrenaline was pumping as she drug herself up from the floor, stabilizing herself with her uninjured knee. She was determined to get out of this building and somehow get Tony some help. She was _not_ going to die in this office. She managed to use the wall to move out of the room and get into the hallway but it was still another four floors down before she could find anybody that could help her. So she used the wall as a crutch and made her way towards the elevator but she collapsed after just a few feet. She yelled out in pain as her wounded knee smashed into the floor.

"Come on Nerissa," she yelled at herself, "You can't die here. You can't let Stane win!"

Nerissa crawled her way to the elevator and grasped for the button that would open the doors and once the elevator opened she painfully crawled into the car and pressed the button that would take her to the main level. Once the elevator doors slid open on the main level, Nerissa crawled her way out of the car and locked eyes on the exit. She was in the homestretch, she could see Pepper and Coulson standing just outside the building, watching something. When she was just under halfway to the exit she heard a deafening crash above her and glass started falling from the skylight. She covered her face as well as she could but some of the shards of glass pricked her skin anyway. The glass that was strewn across the floor posed a new problem, if she tried to crawl across, she could seriously hurt herself on some of the larger shards. Luckily, she didn't have to think very long because the crash shifted Coulson's attention. He had looked down for a second and spotted Nerissa lying there, blood streaking behind her. He ran in the building and rushed to help her.

"What happened?" Coulson asked caution guarding his expression.

"Stane happened," Nerissa replied her consciousness fading.

"Alright, let's get you out of here," Coulson said scooping her up but the sudden movement caused her to scream as pain seared through her, "I'm sorry but I have to get you out of here."

"I know," she said through gritted teeth, "Get me out of here."

Coulson carried her out of the building and laid her down on the ground a distance from the building, "Someone call an ambulance!" he barked to his men before sliding off his belt and tying it around Nerissa's leg as tourniquet, "I'm not sure why I'm trying to save the life of someone who tried to kill me."

"Because you're a good man," Nerissa said softly, "And it was a long time ago. I'm a different person now."

"That remains to be seen, Black Hand," Coulson replied, pressing his tie to the wound on her abdomen.

"I'm a mother," Nerissa told him, "I have a daughter. She's three years old. Her name is Anastasia Renee Caine. I found my biological father. He saved me from Xavier. He saved me from me."

Coulson was shocked, "You have a family."  
"Yeah," Nerissa replied her breathing ragged, "I'm a cop now. I put the bad guys behind bars now. I have a name instead of a number now."

Coulson could tell she was slipping away, "Where's that damn ambulance!" he called out with no reply, "What's your name?" he asked trying to keep her awake.

"Nerissa," she replied, "Nerissa Anne Caine."

"What's your daughter's favorite color?" he asked for lack of better questions.

"Purple," Nerissa whispered, "She loves anything purple."

"What's her favorite Christmas movie?" he asked hearing the sound of sirens approaching.

"Elf," Nerissa was fading fast, "She loves to answer her grampa's calls with "Ana the Elf. What's your favorite color?"

"Sounds like a happy little girl," Coulson told her, "You're going to see her again."

"I don't think so," Nerissa admitted, "They live in Miami. Find them. Make sure they know I love them."

Nerissa's body went limp just as the ambulance screeched to a stop.


	31. Chapter 31

"Come on Riss," Nerissa heard a voice say through the fog that was clogging her mind, "You've got to wake up. You've been out for far too long. Please."

She was so tired she didn't know if she could wake up, she hurt and she wasn't sure she wanted to wake up.

"Nerissa Anne," the same voice said, "If you don't wake up right now… I'll call your father."

Nerissa's eyes began to crack open at that, "That's right you open those eyes." The voice said, "You can do it."

Nerissa opened her eyes all the way and was startled to see who had called her by her real name, "Tony? Where did you learn that name?"

"Oh so me calling you by your _real_ name got your attention," Tony replied his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Where did you learn that name," Nerissa repeated.

"Agent Coulson," Tony answered, "He thought it would be a good idea to know if I had to notify your family that you died."

"What?" Nerissa asked shocked.  
"Yeah," Tony replied furious, "You almost _died_ , Riss! What the hell were you thinking, going all by yourself to that office!? I don't know what I would have done if you had died!"

"You would have dated Pepper and ran Stark Industries," Nerissa replied.

"It would have been a bit more complicated than that," Tony replied, "If you had died on my watch… If you had died I would have felt guilty and I would have moved to Miami to make sure that your little girl was taken care of!"

"You wouldn't have had to do anything," Nerissa said as strongly as she could, "My daughter is not your problem. I came here and knew the risks. You're not responsible for me or my family."

"Dammit, Arissa! Nerissa…" Tony said standing, "Quit being so… stubborn and closed off!"

"I'm sorry Tony," Nerissa whispered sinking down in her bed.

Tony saw her reaction and instantly felt bad for yelling, "I'm sorry Riss. I just… You've become like the little sister I never had and I don't care if you had to keep secrets for me. You saved my life and showed me the real snake in my company. You are family now and there's nothing you can do about it."

* * *

Just shy of a month later Nerissa's knee, which thankfully had not been completely blown out, was healed up just enough that she could move around with the help of a knee brace and a crutch, ideally her doctors would have preferred she be in a wheelchair and not going home right now but she was stubborn and determined to go home. Since she would be flying home in Tony's private jet, which was extremely spacious, they couldn't even argue that traveling by plane would be restrictive so with the warning that she may need further surgery they sent her home. Her abdomen, on the other hand, was in much better shape and healing nicely. The bullet had lodged itself in her liver and it required three surgeries in two days to fix but the surgical team had done it. Now Nerissa was packing for her flight back to Miami with some help from Tony.

"Are you ready to go home?" Tony asked picking up one of her suitcases.

"No," Nerissa replied honestly, "But I need to."

"Still having nightmares?" Tony asked concerned.

"Every night," Nerissa replied with a sigh, "I just don't want Ana to hear me and freak out."

"I'm sure that she'll be fine," Tony assured her, "If she's half as tough as her mother then she'll handle it like a champ."

Nerissa smiled at Tony's encouragement, "Thanks."

A knock sounded on the doorframe.

"Hey Arissa," Henry said, "You headed somewhere?"

Nerissa groaned internally, she had hoped to be long gone before Henry realized she was gone, "Tony can you give us a minute?"

"Yeah, sure," Tony said, "I have to put these in the trunk anyway."

"So, where are you headed?" Henry asked, "On another overnight trip?"

Nerissa took a deep breath, "Actually, Henry, I'm headed home."

"Huh?" Henry said confused, "I thought you lived here?"

"No, I was here trying to prove something I didn't have to," Nerissa replied, "and I now I need to go back home and fix some things with my family."

"You were going to leave without saying goodbye," Henry stated seeing her panic.

"I didn't want to make this any more painful," Nerissa replied.

"Will I ever see you again?" Henry asked in a daze.

"No," Nerissa replied with a stony expression, "I'm never coming back. I don't want to have any more ties to this place." Spotting her escape when Happy's figure filled the doorway, "Happy would you mind grabbing this last bag for me?"

"I would be happy to," Happy said.

"Thank you," Nerissa said fighting away the tears, "Goodbye, Henry." Then she pushed past Henry and when he tried to follow, Happy stopped him, allowing her to make her slow escape.

* * *

Nerissa felt bad for leaving Henry like that but she had come to realize that her father was right, she had gotten too close to the case. There was nothing she could do about Tony and Pepper now but she had to cut all other ties from California and she had. Now she was only an hour from Miami and had one last thing she had to ask Tony, "What happened in the fight between you and Obadiah and everything I missed while I was out?"

Tony took a deep breath, "Obadiah and I fought back and forth in the suits and he had me for a while. I thought I was going to die but I manage to fry him with the current from the arc reactor in the lab when Pepper overloaded the circuitry. Then the next day I had a press conference to debunk the theories of who the two metal men were that had been fighting all over town and instead of reading my cards and lying I told the truth. I told the whole world that I am 'Iron Man'."

Nerissa laughed at the name, "Who's bright idea was that name?"

"The press," Tony answered, "But it fit so I went with it."

"Okay Mr. Iron Man," Nerissa teased, "When do we touch down?"

"Roughly 45 minutes," Tony replied.

"I'm going to take a cat nap in the bunks," Nerissa said standing and heading towards the back of the jet.

"Sleep tight," Tony called.

An hour later Nerissa and Tony had made it through security and were placing Nerissa's bags in the trunk of the rental car.

Tony slammed the trunk shut, "So, you ready?"

Nerissa took a breath, "Yes. No. I don't know."

"You'll figure it out," Tony assured her with a smile.

"Thanks," Nerissa smiled.

* * *

Nerissa and Tony pulled up in front of Nerissa's humble single-story home a short time later.

"It's so cute," Tony said.

"It's home," Nerissa said opening her door and getting out and heading up the sidewalk. She pulled out her key ring and opened up her home. She stepped inside and took a deep breath, savoring the familiar smell of her home and enjoying the cluttered sight of her living room and all of Ana's toys strewn about.

"Is this your daughter?" Tony asked holding up a picture of Nerissa, Horatio, and Anastasia at Nerissa's last birthday party.

"Yeah," Nerissa replied taking the photo from him, running a finger across the image, "She's my light. She was my second chance."

"Is that your dad?" Tony asked pointing at Horatio.

"Yeah," Nerissa said and then set the picture back in its place and moved further into her home.

"So where is everybody?" Tony asked following her.

"Well it's only 2 o'clock," Nerissa said looking at her watch, "So Ana's still at school and my dad is at work."

"Then, I'm going to bow out now," Tony said.

"You don't have to run off so soon," Nerissa said.

"I know but I don't want to impede on your little family reunion," Tony said stepping towards the door.

"Alright, but you're not running off without a hug," Nerissa said opening her arm, minding her healing shoulder.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Tony smiled and hugged her gently, "I'll come back for a visit in a few weeks once you've gotten settled in. I want to meet your dad and that beautiful little girl of yours."

"You will," Nerissa promised, "Don't be a stranger, Tony."

"I won't," he replied and then was gone.

* * *

An hour and a half later, Nerissa heard the familiar sound of the department Hummer door slamming shut and the familiar giggle of her daughter. Nerissa decided to sit in her room until Ana and her dad were in the house.

"Are you ready for your snack, Princess?" Nerissa heard her father ask.

"Yeah!" Ana said running into the kitchen and when Nerissa heard the refrigerator open she moved from the hallway into the door of the kitchen.

"How about I make you your snack, my little bird," Nerissa suggested.

"No, it's okay Mommy. Grampa's got it," Anastasia said dismissing her mother then realized who she had spoken to she spun around, her eyes wide, "MOMMY!" she cried and jumped up and ran to her mother leaping into her arms, "You're home!"

Nerissa bent down as far as she could with her knee brace and hugged her daughter, she felt a jolt of pain from Ana's impact but none of that mattered. She was just relieved to finally hold her baby girl in her arms again, "That's right my little bird and I'm never _ever_ leaving you again. I promise."


	32. Chapter 32

Horatio was surprised to see his daughter and all he wanted to do was hug her tightly and apologize for the way he acted out in California but he waited patiently for Ana to let go of her mother. Horatio took a moment to look his daughter up and down. He was dismayed to notice the brace on her knee and the crutches she used, he knew that she didn't get those in Afghanistan and became angry to know that someone had hurt her since he saw her last. However, he was happy to see that most of the wounds that he had seen on her last time had healed significantly. Finally, the mother and daughter released each other from the hug and Ana said, "Mommy, you're hurt."

"Yeah I am," Nerissa told her daughter gently, "But I'll be fine soon."

"Does it hurt?" Ana asked shyly.

"A bit," Nerissa lied, it actually hurt a lot, "But I'm feeling much better now that I'm home."

Ana seemed to remember her grandpa was in the room then, "Grampa! Mommy's home!"

"I can see that," Horatio said, smiling at his granddaughter.

"Hi, Dad," Nerissa said suddenly shy and timid, "I'm home."

Horatio stepped over to his daughter and pulled her into a tender hug, "I'm glad you're home. What happened?" Horatio asked when he pulled away.

"I'll tell you later," Nerissa replied watching Ana. Horatio understood, she didn't want to talk about it in front of Ana.

"Are you hungry?" Horatio asked.

"I think you owe me an egg sandwich," Nerissa replied referring to the meal they'd abandoned the day they fought in California.

Horatio smiled, "I'll get started on that right away."

The little family spent the next few hours catching Nerissa up on everything that she had missed since she left six months ago. Nerissa was happy to be home but listening to all of their stories, she mourned everything she had missed.

"Mommy," Ana said interrupting their coloring.

"Yeah?" Nerissa savored the sound of the little voice calling her "mom", something she would never take for granted again.

"I'm getting sleepy," Ana said rubbing her eyes, "Can you tuck me in and read me a story?"

"Definitely," Nerissa replied standing up. The two went into Ana's room and Nerissa helped her daughter through her nightly routine as best she could, and after tucking Ana's blankets around her she asked, "What book should we read tonight?"

"Kissing Hand!" Ana said happily.

"That's a good choice," Nerissa smiled and took the book from the shelf. Nerissa opened the book and began reading, within minutes Ana was out, "Good night, my little bird," Nerissa said placing a kiss on top of her head.

"Are you ready to tell me what happened to your leg now?" Horatio asked when Nerissa returned to the living room.

Nerissa sighed, "Yeah." Nerissa spent the next hour telling her father about her last month and a half in California.

"If he wasn't already dead, I'd kill Obadiah Stane myself," Horatio said furiously.

"I wish I could have done it myself but I think Tony did a pretty good job of it himself," Nerissa said massaging the area around where she'd been shot in the abdomen.

"Does your stomach hurt?" Horatio asked, "I noticed earlier when you picked up Ana that you grimaced."

"Yeah, it's only been three and a half weeks," Nerissa said, "It's healing nicely but there's still a ways to go before it's 100%."

"Riss, I've never asked you before," Horatio said massaging Nerissa's shoulders, "But do you have an accelerated healing rate because of something Xavier did to you?"

Nerissa had known that he would eventually ask this and was surprised that it had taken him so many years to do so, "Yeah I do. It's not as fast as it used to be but it still shaves about a week or so off of my recovery. When I was younger and receiving regular injections of Xavier's serum I could heal from a gunshot wound like this in about two weeks, it wasn't completely healed but it was enough that he could send me out on my next mission."

"Was it toxic?" Horatio asked, his brow creased, "I would think anything like that could cause some serious setbacks."

"It won't," Nerissa replied confidently, "Xavier was many things but he wouldn't do anything that would unnecessarily risk the lives of his operatives and this serum was made entirely from natural ingredients. Don't ask me how because I have no idea how the ingredients he used did what they did."

"So you know the ingredients?" Horatio asked.

"Yes, but I don't know how he manipulated them to do what they did," Nerissa replied, "And even if I did I wouldn't tell anybody because the human body is not meant to heal like that. It was a very painful recovery but it was quick and that's what Xavier wanted."

"You're right," Horatio told his daughter, "That doesn't sound like a very humane way to heal."

"It wasn't," Nerissa said, remembering the first time she had experienced the serum at the age of seven.

"What else happened in California?" Horatio asked changing the subject.

"I've pretty much told you everything that happened that's important," Nerissa replied with a shrug of her shoulders, "I did end up telling Tony about the rest of my life but only him and Pepper, no one else."

"Not even that Henry guy?" Horatio asked, surprised that she had only told Tony and Pepper.

"No," Nerissa said tearing up a bit, "It hurt to tell him I was leaving and the look of betrayal and hurt on his face… I made a mistake Dad. I got too close…"

"You didn't do anything wrong, Rissa," Horatio said taking his daughter's hand, "You're a caring and kind person, you only did what you do best, and that's taking care of people and being a good friend. That's part of what makes you such a good CSI."

"I know but this wasn't a day at the lab," Nerissa said hanging her head, "This was an undercover mission and I got emotionally invested in a person and now I'm hurt and I hurt him too."

"Hey," Horatio said tipping up her chin, "You are a strong young woman Nerissa Anne and you did the right thing in the end. That's all that matters."

"Thanks, Dad," Nerissa gave a small smile, "I really did miss you and the team but I don't think that I'm ready to go back to work yet. I'm still pretty battered and weak, I ache all the time and I just don't feel mentally ready to jump back into the fray of things."

Horatio had expected her to want some more time off, "I knew you'd say that and that's why I had arranged for you to be on medical leave for another three weeks when you came home and after that, you can either come back or take a leave of absence. I know that's not very much time but it will give you enough time to think about what you want to do next and I'll support you no matter what."

* * *

The next morning Horatio was still at Nerissa's house but he knew that he had to go to work. When he walked into the kitchen at 5 in the morning he was surprised to see his daughter already sitting at the kitchen table sipping hot tea.

"What are you doing up so early?" Horatio asked pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"I wanted to see you off to work," Nerissa replied.

"There's something else isn't there?" Horatio asked, knowing his daughter.

"Yeah," Nerissa said, "I don't want you to tell the team I'm home yet."

"Why not?" Horatio asked, clearly confused.

"You can tell them soon," Nerissa replied quickly, "I just want some time with my daughter without them wanting to swoop in and bombard me with questions. I know my team and they're going to want to rush over as soon as you tell them. I'm just not ready to have them see me like this, Dad." Tears started to prick her eyes, "I'm not ready for them to see me so broken."

Horatio's heart broke seeing his little girl defeated in a way she never had before, "Alright," Horatio told her gently, "I won't tell anyone until you're ready. Just tell me when."

Nerissa gave him a small smile, "Thanks, Dad. You had better get to work."

Horatio stood, "And you had better get some more rest before Ana gets up."

"I will," Nerissa lied, knowing there was no way she was going to be able to sleep with the danger of her nightmares hanging over once again. She'd gotten lucky last night with the lack of them but she didn't want to risk it again.

"Bye sweetheart," Horatio said as he walked out the door. A minute later Nerissa heard the familiar roar of the Hummer engine firing up and then she listened as it faded down the street.

Since Nerissa was restricted by her knee brace she decided that she would just start unpacking slowly but steadily. It took her about an hour and a half to unpack all of her belongings that she had brought back from California and had carefully stored all of her weapons back into the safe she kept them in. She wanted to take a shower but couldn't because she didn't want to risk hurting herself without anyone home to help. Frustrated, Nerissa huffed, laid down on her bed and opened up a book that she had started in California but never finished. An hour later, Nerissa heard her daughter start to stir in the next room and a few minutes later a soft knock came at her door.

"Come in, little bird," Nerissa told Ana.

"Mornin', Mommy," Ana greeted rubbing the sleep from her eyes and climbing up next to her mom.

Nerissa pulled her daughter closer with her good arm, "Good morning my little bird. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Ana yawned still groggy, "I had a dream about you."

"Oh, what was it?" Nerissa asked, "Was it good?"

"It was good," Ana said curling into her mother, "I dreamed that you had come home and brought Daddy with you."

Nerissa froze, "You dreamed about your dad?"

"Yeah," Ana replied, "I'm not sure it was him though but he looked kinda like me."

"Do you want to see a picture of your daddy?" Nerissa asked.

"Can I?" Ana asked hopefully.

"Of course you can," Nerissa said reaching over to the bedside table and opened it. She pulled out a worn picture of her and Tyler when they were still with Xavier but it was one of her favorite pictures of them, so she kept it around, "I was just a little girl when I met your dad. He was two years older than me and he kind of scared me at first because of how mature he acted," Nerissa recalled, fudging a few details, "But as we got older that fear went away and we became the best of friends."

"Did you love him?" Ana asked interrupting.

"Very much," Nerissa said a few tears in her eyes.

"Like in a fairy tale?" Ana asked her blue eyes shining in the early morning light that streamed through the window.

"Like in a fairy tale," Nerissa told her, "We did almost everything together and eventually we realized our feelings for each other. We dated for a few years before you came along but he died before you were born."

"What happened to him?" Ana asked, looking up at her mother.

"A very bad man hurt him really bad and he didn't make it," Nerissa said a tear running down her face.

"Do I look like him?" Ana asked, running a finger across the small picture.

"You share a lot of things with him," Nerissa told her.

"Like what?" Ana asked curiously.

"You have his laugh," Nerissa said stroking her daughter's hair, "and you both have the cutest little button nose. My favorite thing though is that you have his smile."

"He was happy?" Ana asked.

"All the time," Nerissa remembered fondly, "I wasn't always the easiest person to be around but he never failed to make me smile, just like you."

"Can I keep the picture?" Ana asked hopefully.

"I'm going to keep this one but I'll tell you what," Nerissa said placing the photo back in the drawer, "I'm going to make you your own copy of it and you can keep that one."

"Okay," Ana said watching her mother close the drawer, "Can we make breakfast?"

"I sure can try," Nerissa replied, "but since I have a bum leg, it may take me a little bit longer than normal and it probably won't be as good as Grampa's cooking."

"That's okay," Ana replied getting off the bed, "I'll help. I'm just happy you're home, Mommy."

* * *

When Horatio got home from work that afternoon he found Nerissa and Ana on the couch snuggled together watching The Little Mermaid, which was Ana's favorite movie because Ariel had red hair just like her.

"Are you girls hungry?" Horatio asked as he closed the door.

"Grampa!" Ana cheered when she realized he was home.

"Hi Princess," Horatio greeted planting a kiss on her forehead, "Are you and Mommy hungry?"

"I'm hungry. Mommy are you hungry?" Ana asked.

"I'm a bit hungry," Nerissa lied. Her appetite still hadn't really returned but she knew she had to eat something at every meal or her recovery would slow down and her dad would worry.

"I was thinking that we could go over to the West Cafe," Horatio announced, "What do you think?"

"That sounds okay," Nerissa replied but continued a bit timidly, "But I need to shower first and I… um.. kind of need some help."

"That's no problem, Rissa," Horatio said, "I've helped you when you were hurt before."

"Ana why don't you go get dressed and play with your dolls while I get ready," Nerissa as she got up off the couch with a little struggle.

"Okay, Mommy!" Ana chirped and skipped off to her room.

Nerissa hobbled to her room, her dad right behind her, and closed the door, "I haven't shown anyone my back yet… or really any of my scars…"

"I won't think any less of you Riss," Horatio assured his daughter, "I know that they hurt you really bad and I understand why you'd be reluctant to show me but I promise you, I won't judge."

Nerissa reluctantly removed her button up shirt, leaving her in her tank top. He gently went about the process of covering her knee brace with bags. True to his word Horatio didn't react in any way to the damage that had been done to Nerissa's body but inside he was seething.

"How could anyone do this to another human being?" Horatio wondered to himself taking note of all of the scars and welts that covered her leg.

"All done," Horatio announced standing up.

"Thanks, Dad," Nerissa gave him a thin smile, "I can handle the rest."

"Alright, If you need any help just yell out," Horatio said and he stepped out the door.

After Nerissa's shower with some help from her dad she got dressed and instead of fussing with her hair Horatio simply braided it down her back and then they were off. When they walked in the door of the West Cafe, Nerissa immediately began to feel overwhelmed with all the people crowded into the small diner. Horatio noticed his daughter's apprehension, "You okay, Rissa?" Horatio whispered.

"Uh, yeah," Nerissa lied, "I'm fine."

"You sure?" Horatio asked skeptically.

"I'm fine," Nerissa insisted not wanting to ruin her little girl's night. The small family took a seat and their favorite booth and waited for Darla to come take their order.

"Could that be?" Darla asked when she came to the table, "My Rissa Anne?"

"Hey Ms. Darla," Nerissa replied quietly, "It's nice to see you."

"It's about time you got home," Darla said, "It just hasn't been the same without you coming in every week."

"It is nice to be home," Nerissa admitted.

"What happened to you?" Darla asked blissfully ignorant of all the events that had transpired. Horatio watched his daughter carefully to see how she would react.

"Oh you know the bad guy got the drop on me," Nerissa replied only partially telling the truth, "So I'm stuck in a knee brace for awhile."

"Well I hope you get to feeling better real soon," Darla replied, "So what can I get for you?"  
The little family ordered their meal and enjoyed being with each other for a short time without any memories of California intruding… for now.

 **THE END**

* * *

A/N: _And thus ends the first part of Nerissa's journey, there is still a lot of healing left to be done for our favorite ex-assassin but you'll have to wait and find out about it in the next installment of this story.n_ _Thank you for all of your support on this wonderful rollercoaster ride and I look forward to seeing you all again in Pt. 2 of Nerissa and the team's story. Keep being awesome! ~E_


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